The Mississippian period in the American Bottom experienced a rapid influx of people during a period of culture change after AD 1050. During this time, people moved into the area, political, religious, and economic ways of life became drastically different from those who inhabited the region only a generation before. An estimated 30 percent of the population came from areas outside of the American Bottom. From 2008-2012, a large archaeological project at the East St. Louis Precinct of the American Bottom resulted in the uncovering of many ceramic vessels, however only three percent of these were identified as nonlocal during analysis. The purpose of this study is to determine if these nonlocal pots are made with clays similar to the local samples from the site in order to better understand the process of migration and importance of exotic goods in the region. This project uses X-ray fluorescence to analyze the elemental makeup of the ceramics to test if they were produced locally, with similar clays to local samples, or if they were likely imported into the area from their sources. The results concluded that most of the nonlocal samples tested were geochemically similar to the locally produced vessels. There are several vessels that appear geochemically different from the local samples.

Axe-heads made of a distinctive raw material are found at Mississippian sites across southern Illinois and the Ohio-Mississippi confluence region, yet little research has been done to determine their geological provenance. In this thesis, I use geochemical methods to analyze ground stone tools and debitage from across the Confluence Region in order to prove their origins in the St. Francois Mountains of Missouri. I also compare patterns of axe-head production, consumption, and deposition to Charles Cobb's (2000) model of Mill Creek chert hoes, so as to gain a greater understanding of the political economy of these objects.

Brytning av ekonomiskt värdefulla resurser sker över hela världen och effektiviseras kontinuerligt. Ökad brytning av mineral innebär att lättåtkomliga malmkroppar förbrukas. När de lättåtkomliga kropparna av dessa mineraler använts upp krävs det prospekteringsmetoder för att leta djupare in i jordskorpan. En sådan metod är borrkärnekartering.Syftet var att detaljerat beskriva borrkärnans petrofysiska egenskaper samt lokalisera potentiell ekonomiskt område med hjälp av borrkärnekartering. Två borrkärnor karterades och undersöktes med hjälp av en handhållen XRF. Borrkärnekarterings potential som prospekteringsmetod utvärderades.Malmkropp innehållandes stor del Zn samt Pb, Cu och Fe identifierades i båda borrkärnorna. pXRF och kartering lokaliserade malmkropp i liknande omfång och gradering. Ursprungsbergarter och dess sammansättning identifierades.Prospekteringsmetoder som borrkärnekartering fungerar mycket bra i de fall övergripande information om borrkärnan behövs omgående. Borrkärnekartering är således en effektiv metod som kan användes vid borrplatsen för att kontinuerligt ge information om borrkärnan och således avgöra om borrning ska fortsätta eller avslutas. Prospekteringsmetoden fungerar bäst i kombination med andra metoder, geokemiska eller geofysiska. / Mining of economically important resources is a process happening all over the world and have been increasing in effectiveness during the last century. Increased mining of the resources means that the easily accessed bodies of these minerals is exhausted. Prospecting methods to find new bodies in the ground is then needed. One of these methods is core logging.The goal of the project was to locate potential valuable mineralization. Two different cores were logged and evaluated with a hand held XRF during the project. The effectiveness of core logging as an exploration method was evaluated.Ore body containing large amounts of Zn as well as Pb, Cu and Fe were identified in both drill cores. pXRF and logging gave the same size and grades of the ore body. Protoliths and its composition were identified.Exploration methods like core logging is useful when summary information of the drill core is necessary and the information needs to be given fast. The method is therefore effective in the field at the drill stations to give continuously information about the drill cores being drilled. The method is most effective when combined with other methods like geochemical or geophysical methods.

Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) provides a new alternative to destructive methods of raw material characterization, such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF), neutron activation analysis (NAA), and traditional thin section petrography, although its effectiveness on coarse-grained materials, such as granite, has been questioned. This project addressed this question by determining the effectiveness of pXRF in characterizing granites from Belize and in sourcing granite ground stone tools from Maya sites in Belize. Geochemical fingerprints were defined for three potential source areas (granite plutons in the Maya Mountains of Belize) using outcrop samples. Samples were analyzed using pXRF, XRF, electron microprobe (EMPA), and thin section analyses. PXRF data from archaeological collections of granite ground stone tools from sites in Belize were then compared to the pluton geochemical signatures. There were two principle results of this research. First, analyses indicated that pXRF can accurately characterize the geochemistry of granites from Belize on a suite of elements. Second, this research demonstrated that the Maya of Belize exploited multiple granite outcrops and participated in different kinds of exchange networks to acquire granite, sometimes acquiring stone from the nearest outcrops and sometimes not. While Mountain Pine Ridge was the dominant source outcrop that was exploited, Cockscomb Basin and Hummingbird Ridge granites were also quarried or scavenged. Sometimes the closest source was used, as is the case at Alabama, who exploited the locally available Cockscomb Basin granite. Through this study it appears that the nearest pluton was not always used. Instead Mountain Pine Ridge granite tools were imported from a greater distance, implying that there were additional factors, such as economic partners and changing political powers, which lead to Mountain Pine Ridge granite being the most pervasive in most archaeological collections within Belize.

Soil development on upland landscapes in east-central Iowa Peoria Loess deposits has been occurring for approximately the last 12,500 years. Weathering zone and pedogenic processes depend on environmental factors such as climate, precipitation, time, parent material, biota, and topography, among others. Analyzing the weathering zones of modern and paleosol profiles provides insight into current and paleo-environmental processes. This study employs several bulk geochemical analytic techniques (XRF, pXRF, LIBS, ICP-MS) to examine the weathering profiles formed in modern Peoria Loess deposits and underlying weathering profiles formed during the Farmdale Interstadial and the Sangamon Interglacial. Results indicate advanced weathering occurred in the paleosol sequences of the Farmdale and Sangamon compared to the modern weathering zone, based on depletion and enrichment of elemental concentrations. The interstadial/last interglacial paleosol weathering profiles exhibit increased depletion in CaO, MgO, Na2O, and K2O compared to the Holocene weathering profile formed in Peoria Loess. Enrichment of CaO and MgO in non-pedogenically altered Peoria Loess deposits is a possible indication of rapid loess accumulation, representing insufficient weathering of deposited material synchronous with deposition. Post-depositional weathering and hydrogeological mechanisms may also account for this mid-profile enrichment, providing for some complexity for interpretation. Regional comparison between three sediment cores - an agricultural field, a restored prairie and a pioneer cemetery - exhibit minor land-use influence on geochemical evolution with the agricultural field core exhibiting greater relative depletion in most oxides in the upper one meter, compared to the other sediment cores. However, slight regional heterogeneity in parent material, vegetation cover, and slope position may also account for geochemical variations. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude how the last 150 years of extensive land-use from human activity has impacted weathering and pedogenesis in this region. Additionally, this study validates using pXRF technology on Quaternary weathering profiles, and documents its technological shortcomings which provides essential information for drawing interpretations from these data.

The Etruscan civilization was rich in local and interregional trade. Its exchange networks were vital in establishing relationships with other societies, importing exotic materials and goods, as well as disseminating and assimilating information. However, there is little understanding of the participation of smaller inland settlements in the act of exchange. This research answers questions pertaining to the purpose of trade within these self-sustaining communities, the reliability of identifying geographic locations of the clay used in ancient ceramics through the use of non-destructive X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry without sampling current regional clay sources, and the materiality of the ceramics being exchanged in order to establish major forms of production for each settlement. The analyses of trace elements contained within the ceramic materials previously excavated from two remote Etruscan sites (La Piana and Cetamura) can provide a greater understanding of both the trade practices of the Etruscan culture and the reliability of the sourcing methods. Over 100 ceramics ranging from storage containers, bricks and roofing tiles, amphorae, loom weights, and tableware (including red and black gloss) from Cetamura and La Piana were selected to represent a sample base for local and non-local crafted ceramics. The artifacts were analyzed non-destructively using a Bruker Tracer III-SD portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF), which has been shown to be highly successful in other archaeological studies. Six trace elements (rubidium, strontium, yttrium, zirconium, niobium and thorium) of each artifact were recorded and analyzed using principal component analysis to create a comparable data set. The results confirm that while these Etruscan settlements were self-sustaining, they were still participating in long-distance exchanges.

This study deals with the phenomenon of graves without any bone material combined with an application test of a portable X-Ray fluorescence detector (pXRF) instrument on simulated burial soils to see if we could get any closer understanding of this phenomenon. To test the instruments applicability on these types of conditions, an experiment was conducted with three different soil types. These were placed in separated, specifically pre prepared plastic tubes in groups of three per soil type and then prepared with circa 9 grams of cremated animal bones that was grinded down to a powder. The tubes were then subjected to eater flow equivalent to circa 50 years of rainfall. The tubes were thereafter disassembled and soil samples where gathered and analyzed with a pXRF. The results showed little movement of the bone powder and clear spikes of Ca and P could be seen at the place of disposal of the bone powder and some spreading sideways and down in the tube. The study also search for Mg as an indicator for bone material alongside Ca and P but no clear results could be reached due to excessive variation.   The method of using pXRF in the search for bone material in soils has, as seen in the results of this study, great potential even though more research is needed to reach a better understanding of the methods limitations.

The Dilmun civilization appeared in the Mesopotamian sources as a land of Eden and a supplier of ivory, copper, pearls and dates whose boats reached Ur ports. After the collapse of the Akkadian power in the second half of the third millennium BC, Dilmun underwent some notable changes in different aspects of life. The presence of planned residential settlements with notable architectural features and numerous burial complexes and `Royal Mounds' in Bahrain marked great economic growth and socio-political development in the early second millennium BC, suggesting the emergence of a stratified social hierarchy. Furthermore, these changes suggest that a centralized administration existed that controlled this growth through various means. Thus, this inquiry seeks to explore whether the distribution of Barbar wares was one of the mechanisms used to control the economic growth of the Dilmun trade network. Also, this study seeks to explore whether a connection between the presence of non-local wares and far-distance staples in elite contexts on Failaka Island can be used to infer the pronouncement of status, power, and prestige. A non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) was utilized to examine the chemical composition of 304 ceramic sherds and clay samples along with petrographic thin section analysis, as a complementary tool to investigate the mineralogical composition of Dilmun wares and non-local pottery of the first third of the second millennium BC. Based on the seven trace elements (Rb, Ba, Sr, Nb, Y, Z, and Th) obtained from pXRF, the chemical composition of Dilmun pottery was homogenous and was apparently made from a single source and then possibly produced at a centralized location. However, petrographic thin section results showed that Dilmun pottery could be subgrouped based on the clay and temper used as well as the ancient production technique (e.g. firing temperature). The petrographic analysis supported the pXRF sorting of samples into groups, differentiating between Dilmun and Mesopotamian wares and confirming the non-local wares as outlier. The results suggest that Barbar wares were preferred at Dilmun sites while non-local materials were controlled and their presence minimized. While specific craft recipes and standardization of Barbar wares could not be established, the preference for raw materials from Bahrain proper could.

This research describes a large, newly-recorded archaeological site in the Upper Apalachicola River valley, northwest Florida, and a private collection of artifacts from it, as well as test excavations, three-dimensional modeling, clay/pottery sourcing through chemical analysis, and direct radiocarbon dating of ceramics to relate the site with regional archaeological chronologies and settlement patterns. A University of South Florida (USF) 2013 field school conducted excavations at the multicomponent midden on the western floodplain of the Apalachicola River called the McKinnie site (8JA1869). Students collaborated with a local collector and family members to learn about the site's history. Data from the collection and excavations show that the site was inhabited through four thousand years of prehistory, serving as a rich seasonal resource base for local people in the area starting in the Middle Archaic Period, and as a small place of occupation during the Woodland Period, until people moved out into the river valley to live in farming villages. We also investigated a series of fascinating features, stored in the private collection and excavated by USF, which may have been intentionally buried at the site up to 5500 years ago. They may be evidence of some ancient ochre processing to obtain pigments, or some other special activity.

This research aims to understand the organization of activities across a prehispanic urban center at the Formative period site of Tlalancaleca (800 BC- AD 100), located in Puebla, Mexico. This study analyzes soil samples at the central civic-ceremonial complex of Cerro Grande in an attempt to understand the use of space. This work is a part of the larger Proyecto Arqueológico Tlalancaleca, Puebla (PATP), which is focused on understanding the socio-political organization at Tlalancaleca that led to this site of early urbanism. Soil samples from Tlalancaleca are analyzed using three chemical methods to perform a cross-comparison of analytical methods. These three methods are inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), Mehlich 3 soil phosphorus colorimetry, and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry. The final results of this soil analysis confirm that the Cerro Grande Complex was an actively used space, with areas maintained for specific uses and areas where activities changed over time. In the comparison of methods, ICP-OES was found to be the most comprehensive, precise, and accurate method to use, while pXRF and Mehlich colorimetry were found to show differing information with regards to available and natural concentrations of the different elements. An analytical examination of phosphorus, strontium, calcium, and barium revealed evidence of construction of monumental buildings, a cache, and possible separate feasting areas, indicating that physical spaces and constructions were likely attached to social and political organizations.