Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Application of Reflectance Spectroscopy to Chert Provenance of Mississippian Symbolic Weaponry

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Under the guidance of Dr. David Dye, Ryan Parish will examine the source of prehistoric stone resources used in the manufacture of Mississippian symbolic weaponry "swords" through non-destructive reflectance spectroscopic analysis. Mr. Parish will test the single source hypothesis which postulates that the sword artifacts are manufactured from chert prehistorically quarried from deposits located near Dover, Tennessee. Source data for the Mississippian chert swords will allow Mr. Parish to examine whether preferential selection of Dover chert existed despite the presence of local visually similar Ft Payne deposits. Through the application of reflectance spectroscopy, Mr. Parish will investigate whether the source of the material used in the manufacture of the Mississippian sword artifacts was culturally significant as implied by current source assignments. The sourcing of Mississippian chert swords will allow archaeologists to study resource selection, inter-regional exchange, socio-political organization, and craft specialization in ranked chiefdoms during the Middle Mississippian Stage (1200-1400 AD). Source data also provices the ability to construct hypotheses regarding the use of exotic resources by elites. Currently a large number of Mississippian swords are visually identified as being manufactured from Dover chert. Dover chert is a material type represented in archaeological assemblages from Oklahoma to Georgia and as far north as New York spanning a large portion of what is broadly recognized as Mississippian societies. The distribution of Dover chert signifies an extensive long distance trade network in place during the Mississippian Period. However, the presence of macroscopically similar variants of Ft Payne and Lower St. Louis (Dover) chert outcropping across the Southeast makes the source of the "Dover" chert swords uncertain. The project involves the non-destructive analysis of Mississippian chert swords from curated collections that have received no previous analytical study. The nature of variation within chert necessitates the creation of a large database of representative samples. The creation of a regional database representing two of the major chert types in the Southeast will contribute to future studies relating to the prehistoric record of the region. The potentially fast, inexpensive, accurate, and non-destructive characteristics of reflectance spectroscopy promote the creation of a dynamic database that will be useful for future research relating to prehistoric chert utilization, selection, distribution, and acquisition. The project takes a multidisciplinary approach drawing from the fields of Anthropology, Archaeology, Chemistry, Geography, Geology and Statistics. Development of reflectance spectroscopy techniques addresses current limitations to chert sourcing including accuracy, large numbers of samples, non-destructive analysis of curated artifacts and speed. The project will bring together archaeologists, flintknappers and geologists. The study will signify a long term chert provenance research focus at the University of Memphis and at Murray State University, thus encouraging multi-institutional collaboration that will benefit future students. Specifically, the project will provide training to undergraduate students at all stages of the project. The prehistoric acquisition and consumption of chert resources for symbolically charged items provides an anthropologic case study aiding our understanding of resource selection, use and reuse.