MRI/RUI Acquisition of an Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Analyzer for the Geochemical Characterization of Archaeological Lithics in the Hawaiian Islands

在美国国家科学基金会重大研究仪器奖的支持下，彼得·R。位于希洛的夏威夷的米尔斯和肯·洪博士将建立一个长期研究项目，通过分析夏威夷石器来确定史前贸易模式。 使用能量色散X射线荧光（EDXRF）光谱仪，他们将建立史前夏威夷人从各个地点开采的石器的地球化学“指纹”，并跟踪这些材料在整个岛屿上的贸易程度。 在夏威夷，关于夏威夷人在其各岛屿地区（ahupua`a）维持自给自足的程度，一直存在着争论。 一些考古学家认为，阿胡普阿实际上是封闭的经济体系，夏威夷人很少从事地区或岛屿之间的长途贸易;其他人认为，一些有价值的商品的长途贸易是常见的。 EDXRF分析仪将使考古学家能够对石器进行快速和非破坏性的分析，以确定石器从采石场交易的范围和距离。将尝试将在国内遗址发现的工具和碎片碎片与在已知的史前采石场地区收集的地球化学数据相匹配。 与已知采石场不匹配的样本可能会导致发现目前未知的采石场，或者可能会发现来自其他岛屿群体的石器工具，如塔希提岛和马克萨斯岛。 通过研究不同地区的石器工具在多大程度上来自非本地来源，考古学家将能够量化史前商品交换的时间和空间，并可能确定一些工具，在史前航行中携带数千英里的公海。米尔斯博士和韩博士将监督购买，在实验室技术人员的协助下安装和校准EDXRF光谱仪，该技术人员将准备标准样品，以帮助与加州、俄勒冈州、华盛顿的其他实验室校准数据，奥塔哥和奥克兰（正在其他地区开展类似项目）。 在三年的时间里，将启动一个多标量研究项目，该项目将处理从夏威夷岛遗址获得的数千个石头样本，这些样本目前存放在UH希洛收藏馆。EDXRF系统专为快速和非破坏性分析而设计，将在史前夏威夷石器的采样水平上产生量子变化。 该设备的一个关键特点是，它非常适合本科生使用，并将允许新一代的太平洋岛民学生（UH希洛学生的21%）接受最先进的地质和考古技术的培训。就研究而言，该项目非常重要，因为它将有助于更好地了解夏威夷的史前贸易以及岛屿和群岛之间的史前公海航行。 它在吸引代表性不足的学生进入考古学和地质学领域方面也应该非常重要。 通过为UH Hilo学生提供学习史前夏威夷石器分析的非破坏性方法的机会，希望更多的太平洋岛屿原住民学生能够在科学方法和对他们祖先的理解/欣赏之间找到共同点。

With support from a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation award, Dr. Peter R. Mills and Dr. Ken Hon at the University of Hawaii at Hilo will establish a long-term research project identifying prehistoric trade patterns through the analysis of Hawaiian stone tools. Using an Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer, they will establish geochemical "fingerprints" of stone tools that prehistoric Hawaiians quarried from various sites, and track the extent to which that material was traded throughout the islands. There is a continuing debate in Hawaii regarding the extent of self-sufficiency that Hawaiians maintained in their various island districts (ahupua`a). Some archaeologists argue that ahupua`a were virtually closed economic systems, and that Hawaiians rarely engaged in long-distance trade between districts or islands; others feel that long-distance trade in some valued commodities was common. The EDXRF analyzer will allow archaeologists to conduct rapid and non-destructive analyses of stone artifacts to determine the extent and distance to which stone tools were traded from the quarries. Attempts will be made to match tools and chipping debris found in domestic sites, with geochemical data collected on known prehistoric quarry areas. Samples that do not match known quarry sites may lead to the discovery of currently unknown quarry sites, or possibly to the identification of stone tools derived from other island groups, such as Tahiti and the Marquesas. By examining the extent to which stone tools in various districts were derived from non-local sources, archaeologists will be able to quantify prehistoric commodity exchange through time and space, and possibly identify some tools that were carried over thousands of miles of open ocean on prehistoric voyages.Dr. Mills and Dr. Hon will oversee the purchase, installation and calibration of an EDXRF spectrometer with the assistance of a laboratory technician who will prepare standard samples to help calibrate the data with other laboratories in California, Oregon, Washington, Otago and Aukland (that are working on similar projects in other regions). Over a three-year period, a multi-scalar research project will be initiated that will process thousands of stone samples obtained from sites on Hawaii Island, and currently housed in UH Hilo collections. This EDXRF system, which is especially designed for rapid and non-destructive analyses, will generate a quantum change in the level of sampling of prehistoric Hawaiian stone tools. A key feature of the equipment is that it is well adapted for undergraduate use, and will allow a new generation of Pacific Islander students (21% of the UH Hilo student body) to be trained in state-of-the-art geological and archaeometric techniques. In terms of the research, this project is important for the contributions it will make towards better understanding prehistoric trade in Hawaii and prehistoric open-ocean voyaging between islands and archipelagoes. It should also be highly significant in terms of attracting under-represented students to the fields of archaeology and geology. By providing UH Hilo students with the opportunity to learn a non-destructive method of analysis of prehistoric Hawaiian stone tools, it is hoped that more Native Pacific Island students will find common ground between scientific methodologies and the understanding/appreciation of their ancestral past.