Petrographic, ICP-MS, and LA-ICP-MS Sourcing of Quartzite Sources, Gunnison Basin, Colorado

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，Bonnie Pitblado和Carol Dehler将进行实验，以确定岩石学（微观）和地球化学方法在多大程度上可以用来表征科罗拉多州西南部甘尼森盆地石晶岩来源的独特“指纹”。考古学家和地质学家以前都没有开发出寻找石英岩的方法，但这种岩石类型在世界上是最普遍的，许多史前人在整个时代都喜欢用它来制造抛射器、刮刀和其他凿制的石器。这项研究将扩大Pitblado和Dehler在2005年至2006年进行的试点研究，该研究表明，与传统观点相反，可以根据微观特征和化学成分区分不同的石英岩来源。这项由美国国家科学基金会支持的研究将(a)使用地质考古模型在甘尼森盆地对12种不同的石英岩地层和众多次生石英岩砾石矿床进行定位和取样；(b)确定区分不同来源的最佳方法；(c)在同样位于甘尼森盆地的有8000年历史的Chance Gulch遗址对石英岩的考古发现进行分析，以确定石英岩在景观上最可能的采石场来源。研究的“c”部分将允许研究人员重建落基山脉一些最古老的狩猎采集者的景观使用。这一点很重要，因为生态学理论和现存的少量考古数据都表明，与大平原等知名地区形成鲜明对比的是，落基山脉的早期狩猎采集者每年都有地理上的限制。确认或拒绝这一建议将有助于考古学家对北美人类的理解，在所有大陆的生态变化。犹他州立大学的联合首席研究员Bonnie Pitblado（古印第安考古学家）和Carol Dehler（地质学家）将与地球化学来源专家Hector Neff（加州大学长滩分校）、地球化学家Stephen Nelson（杨百翰大学）和统计学家Dennis Eggett（杨百翰大学）合作进行研究。高级人员带来了广泛的专业知识领域，并将最大限度地提高成功完成三年项目的所有组成部分的机会。该研究最重要的智力贡献在于方法和理论两方面。在方法上，该项目将改进目前不存在的石英岩指纹识别技术，这一贡献将被旨在解决一系列研究问题的地球科学家所重视。从理论上讲，这项研究将有助于完善对落基山脉和北美殖民地的考古学理解。就更广泛的影响而言，该研究计划将在实地和实验室培养本科生。大约20名学生将帮助收集石英岩样本，另外4到5名学生将接受培训，对样本进行岩石学分析。此外，合作项目将继续招募北部、南部和尤特山高中的学生参加实地考察。这将使学生们了解他们的落基山狩猎采集祖先的生活方式；获得大学和高中学分；并接触到大学的氛围，理想的结果是他们以后进入大学。

With National Science Foundation support, Drs. Bonnie Pitblado and Carol Dehler will conduct experiments to determine the extent to which petrographic (microscopic) and geochemical methods can be used to characterize the unique "fingerprints" of quartzite sources in the Gunnison Basin, southwest Colorado. Neither archaeologists nor geologists have previously developed methods for sourcing quartzite, yet this rock type is the most ubiquitous in the world, and many prehistoric people throughout time preferred to use it to manufacture their projectile points, scrapers, and other chipped stone tools.The research will expand pilot sourcing studies conducted by Pitblado and Dehler in 2005 - 2006, which suggested that contrary to conventional wisdom, distinct sources of quartzite can be discriminated from one another both on the basis of microscopic characteristics and chemical composition. The NSF-supported research will (a) use a geoarchaeological model to locate and sample a dozen different quartzite formations and numerous secondary gravel deposits of quartzites in the Gunnison Basin; (b) confirm the best method(s) for differntiating among the sources; and (c) profile archaeological occurrences of quartzite at the 8,000 year-old Chance Gulch site, also in the Gunnison Basin, to determine their likeliest quarry sources on the landscape. Component "c" of the research will allow the researchers to reconstruct the landscape use of some of the most ancient hunter-gatherers in the Rocky Mountains. This is important because both ecological theory and what little archaeologically derived data exist suggest that early hunter-gatherers in the Rockies, in stark contrast to better-known regions like the Great Plains, followed a geographically restricted annual round. Confirming or rejecting this suggestion will contribute to archaeologists' understanding of the peopling of North America, in all the continent's ecological variability.Utah State University co-PIs Bonnie Pitblado, a Paleoindian archaeologist, and Carol Dehler, a geologist, will collaborate in the research with geochemical sourcing specialist Hector Neff (University of California, Long Beach), geochemist Stephen Nelson (Brigham Young University), and statistician Dennis Eggett (also of Brigham Young University). Senior personnel bring to the undertaking a wide range of areas of expertise and together will maximize the chances for successfully completing all components of the three-year project.The most important intellectual contributions of the research lie in the realms of both method and theory. Methodologically, the project will refine currently non-existent techniques for fingerprinting quartzite"a contribution that will be valued by earth scientists aiming to solve a host of research problems. Theoretically, the research will help refine archaeological understanding of the colonization of the Rockies and North America in general. In terms of broader impacts, the research program will train undergraduate university students both in the field and in the laboratory. About twenty students will help collect the quartzite samples and another four or five will be trained to conduct petrographic analyses of the samples. As well, the co-PIs will continue a tradition of recruiting Northern, Southern and Ute Mountain Ute high school students to participate in the fieldwork. This will allow the students to learn about the life ways of their Rocky Mountain hunter-gatherer predecessors; to earn college and high school credits; and to gain exposure to a university atmosphere ideally resulting in their later matriculation to college.