High precision isotopic analyses of lead ores from New Mexico by MC-ICP-MS: implications for tracing the production and exchange of Pueblo IV glaze-decorated pottery (original) (raw)
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Journal of Archaeological Science, 2019
The earliest glazes in the American Southwest were produced during the early Pueblo I period (ca. 750–850 CE) in the Upper San Juan region of Colorado. Petrographic and isotopic techniques were used to study these early glaze-painted pots and to address questions of production locales and procurement strategies. The results of this study identify the preferred source of lead utilized by the potters as originating in the Galena District, in the Lake City and Uncompahgre calderas, in the western San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Glaze paints from three locations in the Mesa Verde region were produced with galena from these deposits, indicating that even when potters were choosing to use different clays and temper, the source of lead remained the same. Galena ores from these deposits have additionally been identified at other locations, including Dillard, a Basketmaker III site in southwest Colorado and in Pueblo II contexts in Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, indicating continuity in knowledge of distant lead sources.
Journal of …, 2007
For nearly four hundred years, Pueblo potters in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico produced technologically innovative glaze-decorated bowls and exchanged them widely among different villages. While potential sources of lead ores used to make glaze paints are found throughout the Rio Grande Valley region, researchers have only recently begun to identify which ore sources potters exploited and to understand the social and economic factors underlying patterns of ore resource use. In this paper we use stable lead isotope and electron microprobe analysis of glaze paints on Rio Grande Glaze Ware made at two Salinas pueblos to identify ore sources and glaze recipes used by their potters. Despite some isotopic overlap of ore sources, the lead isotope data point to regular exploitation of ores from the Socorro area of the southern Rio Grande. Salinas potters apparently used other sources as well, and likely mixed ores from different sources. We also identify four local glaze recipes that appear to incorporate multiple ore sources, suggesting that Salinas potters obtained raw ores rather than finished glaze paints.
Isotopic Tracing of Prehistoric Rio Grande Glaze-Paint Production and Trade
Journal of archaeological …, 2000
Stable lead isotope analyses, using high resolution inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), accurately traced the origin of lead ores used in the production of ceramic glaze-paints by prehistoric Pueblo potters in the American Southwest. The analyses show that, despite the availability of other local sources, most potters in north-central New Mexico during the fifteenth century obtained lead from the Cerrillos Hills. These results suggest that certain strategically-located communities may have controlled the distribution of lead within the region. Thus, lead isotope analysis proved an effective technique for examining prehistoric patterns of resource utilisation, production, and exchange.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2012
Archaeological evidence has become an increasingly important component of efforts to identify the route of the Francisco Vázquez de Coronado expedition through northern Mexico and the southwestern United States (1540e1542). Here, we report the first high-precision lead isotopic measurements of artifacts from two archaeological sites with strong material evidence for the expedition's presence: Piedras Marcadas Pueblo in New Mexico and the Jimmy Owens Site in Texas. The analysis of lead and copper armaments from both sites reveals that many artifacts have overlapping or extremely similar isotopic ratios. We propose that the narrow range of lead isotopic ratios measured on these artifacts can be interpreted as a geochemical fingerprint for some of the Coronado expedition's surviving material culture, and provides evidence that we interpret to suggest the expedition derived lead and copper metal from Mexican sources. Such a geochemical fingerprint presents an empirical method for discriminating between artifacts that belonged to the Coronado expedition and those related to subsequent Spanish, historical, or modern activity in the Southwest U.S. Thus, this method could significantly impact the search for and identification of archaeological sites associated with the Coronado expedition.
Lead and strontium isotopes as tracers for Early Formative pottery exchange in ancient Mexico
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2021
The sourcing of ceramics contributes to resolve questions about the nature of interactions between ancient societies. One such question concerns the primacy of the Olmec center of San Lorenzo in the development of the first unified iconographic style and its role in the early evolution of Mesoamerican civilization. Applying a combination of the isotopic systems of lead and strontium to a selection of ceramics dating to Early Formative period (1500-1000 BCE), this research evaluates the isotopic approach as an independent tool to address previously debated questions. The results demonstrate the capacity of isotopic analyses to discriminate between production centers, identify imports, relate unassigned samples to their production center and ceramics to raw material, and produce insights into production strategies (ceramics used locally versus exports). It subsequently shows how this approach can help solving existing hypotheses relying on ceramic provenance in the Early Formative period in Ancient Mexico. The findings discussed in this study more largely demonstrate that the isotopic approach constitutes a powerful tool to source ceramics and should be considered where contradictory hypotheses exist on their provenance.
Portable X-ray fluorescence analyses of metal artifacts from El Purgatorio, the capital city of the Casma state, show a significant presence of lead in several artifacts. Compositional analysis indicates that late Prehistoric peoples were using either intentional selection of lead-bearing ores, intentional mixing of lead with other metals to form alloys during the manufacturing process, or perhaps using both techniques as part of their metallurgical technology. These findings confirm the use of copper–lead alloys by pre-Inca cultures, an advance that had previously lacked much support, and establish the Casma state as one of the cultures contributing to Andean metallurgical traditions.
Journal of …, 2002
High resolution inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses of stable lead isotopes in Rio Grande glaze paints and New Mexico lead ores (galena) are compared using both acid dissolution and laser ablation techniques. These comparisons demonstrate that acid dissolution is preferable when more accurate measurements are required. In particular, acid dissolution with aqueous induction provided a better match between the archaeological glaze paints and their potential ore sources. However, these comparative studies also show that laser ablation may be an acceptable alternative for examining archaeological materials when the emphasis is on rapid, relatively non-destructive analyses of large data sets.
Lead isotope evidence of lead supply in ancient Ilduro (second-first centuries B.C.E)
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020
In this article, we study the provenance of the lead contained in 22 objects found in the excavations conducted since 1998 on the ancient site of Ilduro (Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona), located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. A selection of 12 bronze coins and 10 lead objects recovered from households, workshops, and the public baths of the town were examined by means of Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) to document the lead supply and trade networks between, on the one hand, the indigenous peoples known in the classical sources as the Laeetani and, on the other, the Roman provincial administration and the societates that controlled the natural resources, their exploitation, and distribution during the Late Republic (second-first centuries B.C.E.). There is no doubt about Rome's dependence on the considerable output of the lead and silver from Hispanic mines during this period; however, very little is known on how these mines supplied and affected the lives of the local communities in Hispania over the course of time. This study helps to cover this gap in the existing literature. The results show how all the coins have lead isotope ratios with homogeneous values compatible with an origin in the Spanish mining district of Cartagena-Mazarrón. The isotopic composition of the 10 lead objects is not homogeneous, and it is possible to identify three distinct clusters. The samples in cluster 3, which include all the artifacts from the bath complex, can also be attributed to the mining districts of Cartagena-Mazarrón, demonstrating that a single mining district supplied the lead required for these two specific initiatives: minting and the construction of the baths. However, the provenance of the lead in the remaining samples (workshops and households) remains unresolved and in some cases might be a consequence of remelting or the direct mixing of leads with different origins. The data from Ilduro points towards the existence of different lead supply patterns in the settlement: directly from the mining exploitations for the public enterprises in contrast to the recycling and mixing practices detected in households and workshops.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018
Fine earthenwares imported from England are a distinctive artifact type frequently found on early nineteenth century Native American and Euro-American sites in eastern North America. Relatively rapid changes in decorative motifs and technologies can easily be identified by eye and provide information about site chronology and economic status. However, visual analyses of sherds usually can provide only general information because most assemblages are very fragmented. We present the chemical composition of pigments and glazes from sherds from two sites occupied during the first half of the nineteenth century: Pokagon Village, a Native American site (southwestern Michigan); and Collier Lodge, a Euro-American site (northwestern Indiana). Multi-element compositions of glazed portions of 12 sherds (with 3 different decorations, 2 specimens from each site of each pattern) were determined by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), micro X-ray fluorescence (μXRF), and laser-ablation-inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). SEM-EDS was especially useful for determining glaze composition, μXRF rapidly provides information on pigment composition and Pb content, and LA-MC-ICP-MS provides information on trace elements and Pb isotopes that reflect different raw material sources.