Meghan Buchanan | Auburn University (original) (raw)
Papers by Meghan Buchanan
This article presents the results of experimental research on the usefulness of identifying resid... more This article presents the results of experimental research on the usefulness of identifying residues present on human remains left behind from copper or copper alloys. A collection of human skeletons from Mound F at Angel Mounds State Historic Site was recovered in the 1940s and determined to be Euro-American based on the presence of a single historic gravestone and several pieces of coffin hardware. However, during a recent rehousing of the Euro-American individuals, several were discovered to have blue-green staining on their crania. If the staining was the result of native copper rather than a copper alloy, it would be more likely that the individuals were Native Americans buried during the Mississippian Period occupation of the site. Differentiating between copper and copper alloys has significant implications for the future of these individuals, as a reassignment of " Native American " to these human remains will cause the collection to fall under the purview of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. An evaluation of the elemental composition of the copper staining using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) has shown that the copper staining present in the burials was likely caused by funerary hardware composed of Euro-American copper alloys. As archaeologists and museum professionals increasingly turn towards research based on legacy and other curated collections, they are often confronted with mistakes, misidentifications, and mysteries left behind by previous generations of researchers, or with brand new avenues of research. In recent years, the proliferation of portable, non-destructive technologies has allowed archaeologists to ask new questions of old collections. Large collections associated with major federal projects conducted in the twentieth century (e.g., Works Progress Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority) are ripe for answering new research questions. Taking a closer look at collections that have been curated for decades customarily provides new insights into
Published in the Proceedings of the 45th Annual Chacmool Conference "War and Peace: Conflict and ... more Published in the Proceedings of the 45th Annual Chacmool Conference "War and Peace: Conflict and Resolution in Archaeology"
http://hdl.handle.net/1880/52231
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015
Tracing the Relational: The Archaeology of Worlds, Spirits, and Temporalities, 2015
In the study of the Precolumbian Eastern United States, ceramic typologies classifying temper tre... more In the study of the Precolumbian Eastern United States, ceramic typologies classifying temper treatments have been foundational in defining chronologies and culture groups. Specifically in the Midwest region, grog tempering has been typically recognized as a Middle (A.D. 1-400) and Late Woodland (A.D. 400-1000) culture trait and shell tempering as a diagnostic hallmark of the subsequent Mississippian culture (AD 1000-1600). Ceramic analyses from this region often downplay or dismiss observed mixed tempered materials as non-existent or incidental admixtures. This analytical practice often masks the variation of tempering treatments in these assemblages as well as masking the social constructs that inform ceramic production. In this paper, we suggest that identifying and including mixed tempering in analyses and interpretations is key for better understanding the processes of Mississippianization and the material manifestations of being Mississippian. Directly addressing mixed temper treatments, we present ceramic analyses from Late Woodland Yankeetown Phase (A.D. 800-1100) sites in southwestern Indiana and the Late Mississippian Period Common Field site (A.D. 1200-1275) in southeastern Missouri, and reposition mix-tempered technologies as negotiated practices, whereby learned, habitual actions related to the production of pottery are entangled in the historical processes associated with the rise and fall of Mississippian polities.
Selected Conference Papers by Meghan Buchanan
The introduction and adoption of shell-tempering in ceramic construction is seen as a hallmark of... more The introduction and adoption of shell-tempering in ceramic construction is seen as a hallmark of the Mississippian Period. Yet previous destructive analyses (ie. Porter 1964) of sherds from the American Bottom region have noted that grog was frequently visible
microscopically but not macroscopically. Numerous examples of sherds were misidentified due to the kind of grog incorporated into the ceramic fabric; others had mixtures of temper that were not visible macroscopically. In this paper, we compare three non-destructive techniques for analyzing temper at the Common Field (MO),Yankeetown (IN), and Stephan-Steinkamp (IN) sites: visual assessment, hand-held
ProScope, and a metallurgical microscope.
Book Reviews by Meghan Buchanan
This article presents the results of experimental research on the usefulness of identifying resid... more This article presents the results of experimental research on the usefulness of identifying residues present on human remains left behind from copper or copper alloys. A collection of human skeletons from Mound F at Angel Mounds State Historic Site was recovered in the 1940s and determined to be Euro-American based on the presence of a single historic gravestone and several pieces of coffin hardware. However, during a recent rehousing of the Euro-American individuals, several were discovered to have blue-green staining on their crania. If the staining was the result of native copper rather than a copper alloy, it would be more likely that the individuals were Native Americans buried during the Mississippian Period occupation of the site. Differentiating between copper and copper alloys has significant implications for the future of these individuals, as a reassignment of " Native American " to these human remains will cause the collection to fall under the purview of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. An evaluation of the elemental composition of the copper staining using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) has shown that the copper staining present in the burials was likely caused by funerary hardware composed of Euro-American copper alloys. As archaeologists and museum professionals increasingly turn towards research based on legacy and other curated collections, they are often confronted with mistakes, misidentifications, and mysteries left behind by previous generations of researchers, or with brand new avenues of research. In recent years, the proliferation of portable, non-destructive technologies has allowed archaeologists to ask new questions of old collections. Large collections associated with major federal projects conducted in the twentieth century (e.g., Works Progress Administration, Tennessee Valley Authority) are ripe for answering new research questions. Taking a closer look at collections that have been curated for decades customarily provides new insights into
Published in the Proceedings of the 45th Annual Chacmool Conference "War and Peace: Conflict and ... more Published in the Proceedings of the 45th Annual Chacmool Conference "War and Peace: Conflict and Resolution in Archaeology"
http://hdl.handle.net/1880/52231
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2015
Tracing the Relational: The Archaeology of Worlds, Spirits, and Temporalities, 2015
In the study of the Precolumbian Eastern United States, ceramic typologies classifying temper tre... more In the study of the Precolumbian Eastern United States, ceramic typologies classifying temper treatments have been foundational in defining chronologies and culture groups. Specifically in the Midwest region, grog tempering has been typically recognized as a Middle (A.D. 1-400) and Late Woodland (A.D. 400-1000) culture trait and shell tempering as a diagnostic hallmark of the subsequent Mississippian culture (AD 1000-1600). Ceramic analyses from this region often downplay or dismiss observed mixed tempered materials as non-existent or incidental admixtures. This analytical practice often masks the variation of tempering treatments in these assemblages as well as masking the social constructs that inform ceramic production. In this paper, we suggest that identifying and including mixed tempering in analyses and interpretations is key for better understanding the processes of Mississippianization and the material manifestations of being Mississippian. Directly addressing mixed temper treatments, we present ceramic analyses from Late Woodland Yankeetown Phase (A.D. 800-1100) sites in southwestern Indiana and the Late Mississippian Period Common Field site (A.D. 1200-1275) in southeastern Missouri, and reposition mix-tempered technologies as negotiated practices, whereby learned, habitual actions related to the production of pottery are entangled in the historical processes associated with the rise and fall of Mississippian polities.
The introduction and adoption of shell-tempering in ceramic construction is seen as a hallmark of... more The introduction and adoption of shell-tempering in ceramic construction is seen as a hallmark of the Mississippian Period. Yet previous destructive analyses (ie. Porter 1964) of sherds from the American Bottom region have noted that grog was frequently visible
microscopically but not macroscopically. Numerous examples of sherds were misidentified due to the kind of grog incorporated into the ceramic fabric; others had mixtures of temper that were not visible macroscopically. In this paper, we compare three non-destructive techniques for analyzing temper at the Common Field (MO),Yankeetown (IN), and Stephan-Steinkamp (IN) sites: visual assessment, hand-held
ProScope, and a metallurgical microscope.