Support for collaborative projects in the Elemental Analysis Facility at The Field Museum

这一奖项将继续得到美国国家科学基金会(NSF)对芝加哥菲尔德博物馆元素分析设备(EAF)的支持，该设备负责对陶瓷、玻璃、金属和颜料等古代材料进行快速成分分析，以加强对非常广泛的人类学主题的研究。研究人员能够以非破坏性的方式分析考古样本中的主要、次要和微量元素，以解决与文化生产、互动和交流的考古学相关的问题，并推动菲尔德博物馆著名人类学藏品的材料保护事业。EAF为田野博物馆社区以及来自芝加哥地区、中西部和其他地区的学者和学生提供财政支持，以抵消旅行和住宿费用以及部分分析成本。菲尔德博物馆有一个现场实验室，为研究博物馆独特藏品中的文物创造了机会，这些文物不能轻易转移到外部分析设施。EAF还支持本科生和研究生的研究和培训。学生通过进行自己的分析开始进入分析过程，并接受方法开发、数据统计处理和解释方面的培训。这项研究的结果将为菲尔德博物馆未来的展品和教育活动提供参考，该博物馆每年为数十万学童和数百万参观者提供科学教育和外展服务。EAF包括带有能量色散光谱仪的扫描电子显微镜(SEM-EDS)和电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(ICP-MS)。电感耦合等离子体质谱可配备两个激光器。其中一个激光器致力于以高吞吐量对小物体进行采样，而第二个激光器是一种完全独特的、定制的设备，可以容纳大物体。一种新的试验性便携式激光器能够在实验室外对人工制品进行采样，并可用于LA-ICPMS的元素分析或同位素分析(与外部设施合作)。该设备还配有三台便携式XRF仪器，用于对博物馆内或现场的文物进行完全非侵入性的调查。该项目的学术价值包括建立了来自世界各地的考古和民族学材料的广泛新数据库集，直接为关于古代贸易和交流、技术及其与世界各地社会复杂性发展的关系的假设提供信息。通过提供研究古代材料的专业知识，将知名学者和研究生与博物馆的广泛收藏品联系起来，并为他们提供分析这些独一无二的集合的工具，该项目将显著提高对文化生产在复杂社会发展中的作用的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award will continue National Science Foundation (NSF) support for the Elemental Analysis Facility (EAF) at the Field Museum in Chicago, which hosts instrumentation for the rapid compositional analysis of ancient materials like ceramics, glass, metals, and pigments, to enhance research on a very wide range of anthropological topics. Researchers are able to analyze archaeological samples for major, minor, and trace elements in a non-destructive manner to address questions related to the archaeology of cultural production, interaction and exchange and advance the cause of material conservation of The Field Museum's renowned anthropology collections. The EAF serves the Field Museum community as well as scholars and students from the Chicago area, the Midwest and elsewhere by offering financial support to offset travel and accommodation expenses as well as part of the analytical costs. The presence of an on-site laboratory at the Field Museum creates the opportunity to study artifacts from the unique collections of the museum that could not be moved easily to outside analytical facilities. The EAF also supports undergraduate and graduate student research and training. Students are initiated into the analytical process by undertaking their own analyses and are trained in method development, the statistical processing of the data, and interpretation. Results of this research will inform future exhibits and education activities of The Field Museum, which provides science education and outreach for hundreds of thousands of school children and millions of visitors annually.The EAF includes a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), and inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The ICP-MS can be fitted with two lasers. One of the lasers is dedicated to the sampling of small objects with a high throughput, whereas the second laser, a totally unique, custom-transformed apparatus, accommodates large objects. A new experimental portable laser is able to sample artifacts outside the lab and can be used for elemental analysis with LA-ICP-MS or for isotope analysis (in collaboration with outside facilities). This equipment is complemented by three portable XRF instruments for totally non-invasive investigations of artifacts on the premises of the Museum or in the field. The intellectual merits of the project include the establishment of extensive new datasets of archaeological and ethnological material from around the world that directly inform hypotheses about ancient trade and exchange, technology, and their relationship to the development of social complexity around the world. By providing expertise for the investigation of ancient material, linking leading scholars and graduate students to the museum's extensive collections, and giving them the tools to analyze these one-of-a-kind assemblages, the project will significantly enhance understanding of the role of cultural production in the development of complex societies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.