This thesis examines the fabrication and provenance of 2,871 obsidian artifacts collected from twelve prehispanic archaeological sites in four physiographic zones throughout the Department of Chinandega, the northwesternmost department of Nicaragua. This research represents the first systematic study of obsidian artifacts in the region and focuses on two aspects of the obsidian artifacts. First, I present a macroscopic technical analysis of artifacts collected from twelve sites in the Department. The second part of the thesis presents a collaborative geochemical provenance study of obsidian procurement across these sites. Results indicate that most prehispanic sites participated in multiple sets of long-distance trade networks centered on obsidian as early as the Late Preclassic, up until the Late Postclassic, exploiting trade from four obsidian sources to the north. Analyses show that populations in the Department primarily, though not exclusively, utilized a core-flake industry that was worked on-site with material from the Güinope source in Honduras. A limited number of prismatic blades and a few other formal tools sourced from two additional further sources (La Esperanza in Honduras and Ixtepeque in Guatemala) appear almost exclusively as imported finished products more recently in the archaeological sequence. Additionally, the archaeological sites situated in the eastern coastal plains of the Department contained the largest variety of source material, followed by the sites of the northern foothills, a single site in the Nicaraguan depression, and lastly a single site in the Maribios volcanic front. Although ceramic analyses from the collection are partially complete and developing, this region is best understood as a cultural mosaic connected to the Mesoamerican populations in the north. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Obsidian was a prized tool stone heavily exploited in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem throughout the pre-contact period. Fifteen geochemically distinct sources in this area were utilized on a regular basis consistently through time. A large dataset of sourced obsidian artifacts currently exists but has rarely been applied to specific archaeological problems for Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.<p> This thesis provides a comprehensive list of obsidian sources important to the archaeology of Yellowstone and analyzes spatial and temporal trends of obsidian source selection. This study examines diagnostic tools produced by people during the Archaic period, focusing on the McKean complex (~5500-3000 BP) and Pelican Lake phase (3000-1600 BP). The potential for a cultural preference for obsidian source selection is discussed by applying landscape theory and ethnographic evidence to the examination of archaeological data.<p> A pattern of obsidian source exploitation as seen at the Osprey Beach site (representing the Cody Complex) has led to the development of a proposed annual round, typically applied to the entire pre-contact period in the Park. This large annual round, however, is determined to be unlikely and unnecessary by this author. Alternative local rounds to this model are proposed and supported by the evidence.<p> A clear preference for the Obsidian Cliff source (a National Historic Landmark) located in the northern end of the Park is shown in these results. This preference can be interpreted in both economic and cultural terms. Otherwise, no purely cultural preference for an obsidian source is supported. The exploitation of certain obsidian sources did not change significantly between the McKean and Pelican Lake cultures. However, a significantly different pattern of exploitation is seen when analyzed by geographical area. The results of this research suggest a more localized pattern of obsidian exploitation than previously thought, impacting interpretations of seasonality and travel routes in the Yellowstone area.

The large amount of turquoise artifacts recovered from archaeological sites in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica suggests that turquoise was an important commodity in pre-Columbian trade networks. However, the spatial and temporal patterns of turquoise exchange networks and the provenance regions of the turquoise in the southwestern United States and Mesoamerica are poorly understood. Turquoise (CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8•4(H2O)) is a supergene mineral that forms from meteoric water along fractures that are often associated with copper porphyry deposits. This copper-rich mineral can range in color and chemistry within a single sample or deposit. The ability to identify the turquoise resource areas of turquoise artifacts using the stable isotopes of hydrogen (2H/1H) and copper (65Cu/63Cu) has overcome many of the limitations of trace element analyses of complex minerals such as turquoise. The geography and geology of turquoise deposits dictate the isotopic composition of turquoise. Employing the Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) technique to measure the hydrogen and copper stable isotope ratios in turquoise samples, a comparative reference database consisting of 876 analyses from 21 turquoise resource areas in the western United States was established. Sixty-two turquoise artifacts recovered from Aztec Ruin, Salmon Ruin, and nine sites in Chaco Canyon were analyzed and their isotopic signatures were compared to the reference database identifying the turquoise resource areas of 35 artifacts. These results were compared to pre-existing models of trade and exchange in the American Southwest and models that explain the complex culture history of the inhabitants of these sites. The results showed that turquoise was obtained from several different turquoise provenance regions across the western United States and there are notable differences in the turquoise procurement patterns between the three major great houses and between Pueblo Bonito and the small sites within Chaco Canyon. The results from this study improved the understanding of turquoise trade and relationships among the occupants of important Ancestral Puebloan sites in northwestern New Mexico. The development of the turquoise comparative reference database established the foundation of future research for reconstruction of ancient turquoise trade networks and investigation of turquoise procurement strategies in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica.

The large amount of turquoise artifacts recovered from archaeological sites in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica suggests that turquoise was an important commodity in pre-Columbian trade networks. However, the spatial and temporal patterns of turquoise exchange networks and the provenance regions of the turquoise in the southwestern United States and Mesoamerica are poorly understood. Turquoise (CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8•4(H2O)) is a supergene mineral that forms from meteoric water along fractures that are often associated with copper porphyry deposits. This copper-rich mineral can range in color and chemistry within a single sample or deposit. The ability to identify the turquoise resource areas of turquoise artifacts using the stable isotopes of hydrogen (2H/1H) and copper (65Cu/63Cu) has overcome many of the limitations of trace element analyses of complex minerals such as turquoise. The geography and geology of turquoise deposits dictate the isotopic composition of turquoise. Employing the Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) technique to measure the hydrogen and copper stable isotope ratios in turquoise samples, a comparative reference database consisting of 876 analyses from 21 turquoise resource areas in the western United States was established. Sixty-two turquoise artifacts recovered from Aztec Ruin, Salmon Ruin, and nine sites in Chaco Canyon were analyzed and their isotopic signatures were compared to the reference database identifying the turquoise resource areas of 35 artifacts. These results were compared to pre-existing models of trade and exchange in the American Southwest and models that explain the complex culture history of the inhabitants of these sites. The results showed that turquoise was obtained from several different turquoise provenance regions across the western United States and there are notable differences in the turquoise procurement patterns between the three major great houses and between Pueblo Bonito and the small sites within Chaco Canyon. The results from this study improved the understanding of turquoise trade and relationships among the occupants of important Ancestral Puebloan sites in northwestern New Mexico. The development of the turquoise comparative reference database established the foundation of future research for reconstruction of ancient turquoise trade networks and investigation of turquoise procurement strategies in the American Southwest and Mesoamerica.

Stone plays an inextricable role in the lives of Andean peoples and the monumental stoneworks of pre-Hispanic cultures stand in memorial to the experiences and beliefs of those who created them. Stone is often selected as a medium for symbolic works due to its durability and perceived permanence, but in the Andes, its meaning expands beyond its physical properties. Stone was an extension of the animate landscape that both sheltered and endangered its inhabitants. Stories were attached to stones, whether natural or modified, to embed knowledge of the landscape and of history in the memory of communities. Centuries later, archaeologists utilize modified stones and constructed monuments as a window to understand long past societies. As our own technological abilities expand, we are able to garner even deeper understandings of the way stones were used and the meanings they may have once held. High in the Peruvian Andes, in a small city renown for its natural beauty and ecological adventures, there is a modest museum, where hundreds of once powerful stone ancestors are visited by school groups and tourists, receiving words of wonder in place of the offerings of coca, chicha, and music once granted to them by their human children and grandchildren known today as the Recuay people. These carved figures give clues to their meaning through their crouched mummified positions and their accoutrements of power, warfare, and fertility. But much of their histories have been lost, as looting, religious persecution, and local curation have moved almost all of these ancestors from their resting places, erasing clues about their roles and meaning in the society that made them. Utilizing a Holistic Approach to craft production (Shimada and Craig 2013; Shimada and Merkel 1987; Shimada and Wagner 2007), this research seeks to recontextualize these powerful Recuay ancestors that once populated the Huaraz region of highland Ancash (ca. 100-700 CE) through an investigation of their making. Each choice and action in the process of production reveals important information about broader technological systems, social, political, and economic relationships, and the cosmologies and belief systems of the makers. Incorporating multiple lines of evidence from geochemical and technological analysis, as well and surveys of archaeological sites, interviews with modern stone sculptors, and experimental testing of manufacturing techniques, this research provides a reconstruction of the entire production sequence for Recuay stone ancestors, from the selection, procurement, and dispersal of raw materials to the techniques, tools, and settings employed in manufacturing. This research offers an example of the efficacy of the Holistic Approach to gain sociocultural insights from material records of the process of production through direct evidence of manufacturing and to overcome limitations regarding artifact provenience. Additionally, the robust geochemical analysis outlined here provides a replicable approach to semi-quantitative sourcing studies through non-destructive portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy, with an analytical approach that is as accessible as equipment operation. As a rare case study in pre-Inkaic stone quarrying and carving, this research showcases the technological and symbolic variability within a centuries long belief system that recognized the animate landscape and treated extracted materials as an extension of those forces. Over the course of this 600 year long carving tradition, Recuay artisans altered the forms and iconographic details of these important sculptures, but the production techniques, surface treatments, and raw materials remained remarkably consistent. Only four geologic sources provided raw materials for 96% of analyzed sculptures in this regional assemblage across three different volcanic stone types, including two long-hypothesized quarries, Pongor and Cerro Walun. Over 97% of sculptures across all volcanic, sedimentary, and plutonic stone types shared a specially crafted surface treatment that differed from other Recuay stoneworks and from stone sculptures of preceding cultures in the region. Investigations at the confirmed quarry site of Cerro Walun reveal contextualized insights about the infrastructure of stone quarrying and carving and its close association with tombs and venerated, animate landscapes. Combined with understandings of communal ancestor veneration and intercommunity socio-political negotiations among the Recuay, we see that these stone figures and the process of creating them played an active role in the expression and maintenance of relationships and knowledge between communities and across generations.

L'objectif de ce travail de thèse a été de développer l'utilisation des isotopes du fer pour le traçage des métaux anciens, principalement ferreux. Notre approche méthodologique s'est articulée autour de trois axes majeurs. Le premier axe a consisté à étudier l'influence potentielle des processus métallurgiques sur la composition isotopique du fer des métaux produits. Pour cela, nous avons mesuré la composition isotopique du fer d'échantillons issus d'expérimentations de réduction de minerai de fer en bas fourneau, réalisées sur un site sidérurgique majeur de la période romaine (la Montagne Noire, Sud-Ouest de la France). Le second axe a eu pour objectif de valider ce nouveau traceur en mesurant la composition des isotopes du fer de minerais, scories et objets en fer issus d'un contexte archéologique connu et dont la provenance avait déjà été identifiée par des analyses élémentaires. Nous avons alors mesuré la composition des isotopes du fer de barres de fer principalement retrouvées dans des épaves romaines au large des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). Enfin, le troisième axe a eu pour vocation d'estimer la pertinence, mais aussi les limites de ce nouvel outil en l'appliquant à deux terrains archéologiques très différents, où aucune étude de traçage classique n'avait été utilisée précédemment. Ces deux terrains concernaient la sidérurgie ancienne au Togo et la production de plomb argentifère médiévale au Maroc. Les résultats obtenus montrent que la composition isotopique du fer de la scorie et du métal produit est similaire à celle du minerai correspondant. Il n'y a donc pas de fractionnement des isotopes du fer tout au long de la chaîne opératoire de production de fer. De plus, et contrairement à certains traceurs élémentaires, les isotopes du fer ne sont pas contaminés par la paroi du four très pauvre en cet élément durant la réduction. Ceci permet ainsi d'établir des liens de provenance directs entre un objet en fer et un minerai. L'application de cette méthode de traçage à un contexte archéologique déjà largement étudié a permis de valider les hypothèses de provenance d'objets archéologiques. En outre, les isotopes du fer peuvent être plus discriminants que les éléments en trace car ils permettent notamment de différencier des productions de fer temporellement et géographiquement très proches. Le traçage est ainsi affiné. Enfin, nos résultats préliminaires suggèrent que les analyses des isotopes du fer pourraient également être appliquées à l'étude de la production de métaux non ferreux. Cette étude offre ainsi de nombreuses perspectives, telles que l'étude de la provenance de pièces de musée étant donné la faible quantité de matière nécessaire, l'établissement d'une base de données de composition isotopique du fer de minerais archéologiques et l'élaboration d'une méthode de traçage commune aux métaux ferreux et non ferreux. / The objective of this work was to develop the use of iron isotopes for ancient, essentially ferrous metal tracing. Our methodological approach was based on three major directions. The first one consisted in the assessment of the potential influence of metallurgical processes on iron isotope compositions of the reduction products. For this purpose, we measured the iron isotope composition of materials from experiments of iron ore reduction in bloomery furnace performed in a major site of iron production during the Roman period (Montagne Noire, SW France). The second direction aimed at validating this new tracer through the iron isotope measurement of ores, slags and iron artefact samples from a well-defined archaeological context, and whose provenance was previously investigated by elemental analyses. We thus measured the isotopic composition of iron bars discovered in Roman shipwrecks found offshore Les-Saintes-maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône, France). Thirdly, we estimated the relevance and limitations of our new tracing approach by applying it to the study of two different archaeological fields, on which no previous provenance study had been performed. These were the ancient iron production from North East Togo and the Medieval lead-silver production in Morocco (Anti Atlas Massif). The results demonstrate that the isotopic composition of slags and metals produced reflect that of their corresponding ores because no iron isotope fractionation occurs along the entire chaîne opératoire of iron production. Moreover, and in contrast to several elemental tracers, iron isotopes are not impacted by iron contribution from the smelting device during the reduction process, which allows to establish provenance links directly between an iron artifact and a specific ore. The application of this tracing method in a well-studied archaeological context has allowed to validate the provenance assumption of several archaeological artifacts. Furthermore, iron isotopes may provide a more discriminative tracer than trace elements because a temporal and geographical distinction is possible between close iron production sites. The tracing is thus more precise. Finally, our results suggest that iron isotope analyses could also be used in the study of non-ferrous metal production. This work offers many perspectives in provenance studies of museum pieces given the very small amount of material needed, in the setup of a database of iron isotope compositions of archaeological iron ores and the establishment of a common tracing approach for both ferrous and non-ferrous metals.