No description available.

In the Southeastern United States, archaeological sites dating to the Paleoindian period are elusive. This study examined whether the Topper Site (38AL23) in Allendale County, South Carolina has buried, relatively undisturbed Paleoindian deposit using a sample excavation block removed during the 2005-2007 field seasons. Artifact horizons were defined by plotting the density of each bulk provenience against a vertical profile. The vertical displacement of refitted artifacts and the position of diagnostic artifacts were used to test the integrity of these horizons. The results indicate a discrete deposit associated with diagnostic Clovis artifacts. Subsequent analyses tested for horizontal post-depositional movement, and the results suggest isolated bioturbation events and winnowing had occurred. As an additional test of the horizontal integrity of the deposits, a spatial analysis found non-random patterning among the artifact classes. This study concluded that some areas were significantly disturbed, while other areas contained vertically discrete Clovis deposits with the spatial array of artifacts potentially intact.

The primary goal of the conservator is to stabilize and conserve artifacts with the best possible treatment available. Ideally, these treatments are noninvasive and reversible, and maintain the integrity of the object as a top priority. In this respect, it is the responsibility of the conservator to research other possible treatments when traditional methods prove to be insufficient to properly stabilize and conserve an object. Sometimes choosing to treat with a seemingly unorthodox method is the only chance for the objects survival. Though glass is considered one of the most stable archaeological materials, noninvasive, reversible treatments are not always possible given the level of deterioration glass objects undergo within the archaeological setting, specifically the underwater or waterlogged archaeological setting. This research is a consideration and investigation of the use of silicone polymers and silanes as consolidation materials for 17th-century glass recovered from aqueous environments. Working within the Conservation Research Laboratory and the Archaeological Preservation Research Laboratory at Texas A and M University, a newly developed polymer passivation technique utilizing materials acquired from the Dow Corning Corporation was applied to archaeological glass recovered from the 1686 shipwreck La Belle, excavated in Matagorda Bay off the coast of Texas by the Texas Historical Commission from 1996 to 1997. The successful application of a hydroxyl ended silicone polymer Q-1 3563, combined with a methyltrimethoxysilane intermediate crosslinker, Q-9 1315, at a 15% solution by weight and catalyzed with dibutyltin diacetate (DBTDA Fascat 4200) occurred in 1999. This project was the first large scale application of silicone polymers and silanes to 17th-century archaeological glass recovered from a marine site. Through this investigation we answered a number of questions regarding the use and application of the silicone technologies and confirmed that these materials are a viable resource for glass consolidation and conservation in terms of the suggested conservation guidelines of the IIC. The silicone technology was successfully applied to numerous types, forms, colors and degradation levels of glass. This included successful application to composite artifacts and the retreatment of objects unsuccessfully treated with a "traditional" method.

In the Southeastern United States, archaeological sites dating to the Paleoindian period are elusive. This study examined whether the Topper Site (38AL23) in Allendale County, South Carolina has buried, relatively undisturbed Paleoindian deposit using a sample excavation block removed during the 2005-2007 field seasons. Artifact horizons were defined by plotting the density of each bulk provenience against a vertical profile. The vertical displacement of refitted artifacts and the position of diagnostic artifacts were used to test the integrity of these horizons. The results indicate a discrete deposit associated with diagnostic Clovis artifacts. Subsequent analyses tested for horizontal post-depositional movement, and the results suggest isolated bioturbation events and winnowing had occurred. As an additional test of the horizontal integrity of the deposits, a spatial analysis found non-random patterning among the artifact classes. This study concluded that some areas were significantly disturbed, while other areas contained vertically discrete Clovis deposits with the spatial array of artifacts potentially intact.

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Glen Doran, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 21,2004). Includes bibliographical references.

The Scottish vitrified forts form a unique assemblage of archaeological monuments exhibiting the common feature of partly melted masonry generally found in the vicinity of a ruined wall. Although they have received considerable attention from scholars since their discovery in the late eighteenth century many questions relating to origins, purpose and chronology remain unanswered. This work represents the first coherent attempt to develop and apply direct dating to vitrified rocks _ using thermoluminescence (TL) techniques to establish the time elapsed since the last heating of the sample. The technique is based on equating the thermoluminescence acquired by minerals within vitrified rocks, during the period following vitrification, to the levels of natural ionising radiation within and around the samples. Study sites were selected on the basis of a mineralogical, analytical and dosimetric survey of material from museum collections, and sampled from secure contexts using a portable diamond coring tool. Radiation dose rates to the samples were determined using a combination of thermoluminescence and low level counting methods coupled to standard microdosimetric models for specific mineral phases. A promising new method of rapid beta dose rate measurement was developed during this work. Thermoluminescence measurements of separated mineral extracts were performed using computerised eqUipment to determine the total radiation dose experienced since firing. Particular attention was paid to the form of the radiation dose dependence of samples from different Sites, and to the stability and reproducibility of TL signals. Coherent thermoluminescence ages were obtained from the sites of Finavon,Craig Phadrig, Dun Lagaidh, Langwell, Knockfarrel and Tap 0 Noth, using feldspar fractions extracted from the samples, and indicate a long time span for the monuments stretching from the 2nd millenium Be to the first millenium AD. This evidence considerably extends the timespan attributable to the monuments and paves the way for further work to establish the relationship between the morphology and chronology of a wider range of sites.

No description available.

This thesis analyses the flaked stone assemblage from the Hiikwis site complex (DfSh-15 and DfSh-16) in Barkley Sound, British Columbia. The Hiikwis flaked stone assemblage is anomalous within Barkley Sound due to the presence of relatively abundant flaked stone in late contexts. Prior to Hiikwis, the most recent flaked stone in Barkley Sound dated to approximately 2000 BP. Hiikwis has flaked stone beginning at approximately 2800 BP and lasting until the final occupation of the site in the early 1900s. Artifacts are classified based on a descriptive lithic analysis and then the behavioural implications of the assemblage are discussed through use of the chaîne opératoire and theories of technological organization and design theory. Spatial and temporal differences become apparent throughout the site and demonstrate changes in the types of tools used over time. The Hiikwis site complex is compared to other sites within the region, as well as beyond. A discussion of the attributes of the West Coast culture type and the Gulf of Georgia traditions makes it clear that the findings at Hiikwis support the Wakashan Migration Hypothesis. In turn, this assemblage calls for a re-evaluation of the West Coast culture type, while suggesting that there may be other unexcavated sites in Barkley Sound with flaked stone in recent components. / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.