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

在大卫戴伊博士的指导下，瑞安教区将通过无损反射光谱分析，考察用于制造密西西比象征性武器“剑”的史前石材资源的来源。 教区先生将检验单一来源假设，该假设认为，剑文物是由燧石史前开采的矿床位于田纳西州多佛附近。 密西西比燧石剑的源数据将允许教区先生检查是否存在多佛燧石的优先选择，尽管存在当地视觉上相似的佩恩堡矿床。 通过反射光谱的应用，教区先生将调查密西西比剑文物的制造中使用的材料的来源是否具有文化意义，正如目前的来源分配所暗示的那样。 密西西比燧石剑的来源将使考古学家能够研究密西西比中期（公元1200-1400年）的资源选择，区域间交流，社会政治组织和工艺专业化。 源数据还证明了构建关于精英使用外来资源的假设的能力。 目前，大量的密西西比剑被视觉识别为由多佛燧石制成。 多佛燧石是一种物质类型，在从俄克拉荷马州到格鲁吉亚，最北到纽约的考古学组合中有代表性，跨越了被广泛认为是密西西比社会的很大一部分。 多佛燧石的分布表明密西西比时期存在着一个广泛的长途贸易网络。 然而，在东南部露头的佩恩堡和下圣路易斯（多佛）燧石的宏观相似变体的存在使得“多佛”燧石剑的来源不确定。 该项目涉及对密西西比燧石剑的非破坏性分析，这些剑来自于以前没有接受过分析研究的精选收藏。 燧石内部的变化性质需要建立一个代表性样品的大型数据库。建立一个代表东南部两种主要燧石类型的区域数据库，将有助于今后有关该地区史前记录的研究。 潜在的快速，廉价，准确，和非破坏性的反射光谱的特点，促进创建一个动态的数据库，这将是有用的，为未来的研究有关史前燧石的利用，选择，分布和收购。 该项目采用多学科方法，涉及人类学、考古学、化学、地理学、地质学和统计学等领域。 反射光谱技术的发展解决了当前对燧石来源的限制，包括准确性，大量样品，对策展文物的非破坏性分析和速度。 该项目将汇集考古学家，燧石族和地质学家。 这项研究将标志着一个长期的燧石种源研究重点在孟菲斯大学和默里州立大学，从而鼓励多机构的合作，将有利于未来的学生。 具体而言，该项目将在项目的各个阶段为本科生提供培训。 史前收购和消费的象征性收费项目的燧石资源提供了一个人类学的案例研究，帮助我们了解资源的选择，使用和再利用。

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.