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

在国家科学基金会主要研究仪器奖的支持下，夏威夷大学希洛分校的Peter R. Mills博士和Ken Hon博士将建立一个长期的研究项目，通过分析夏威夷石器来确定史前贸易模式。利用能量色散x射线荧光（EDXRF）光谱仪，他们将建立史前夏威夷人从不同地点开采的石器的地球化学“指纹”，并追踪这些材料在整个岛屿上的交易程度。在夏威夷，关于夏威夷人在各个岛屿地区（ahupua 'a）维持的自给自足程度的争论一直在继续。一些考古学家认为，ahupua 'a实际上是封闭的经济体系，夏威夷人很少在地区或岛屿之间进行长途贸易；另一些人则认为，一些有价值商品的长途贸易很常见。EDXRF分析仪将允许考古学家对石器文物进行快速和非破坏性的分析，以确定石器工具从采石场交易的程度和距离。将尝试将在国内遗址发现的工具和碎片与在已知史前采石场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，或者可能识别来自其他岛屿群的石器，如塔希提岛和马克萨斯岛。通过检查不同地区的石器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是在史前航行中穿越数千英里的公海携带的。Mills和Hon博士将在实验室技术人员的协助下监督EDXRF光谱仪的购买、安装和校准，该实验室技术人员将准备标准样品，以帮助与加利福尼亚州、俄勒冈州、华盛顿州、奥塔哥和奥克兰的其他实验室（正在其他地区开展类似项目）校准数据。在三年的时间里，一项多尺度研究项目将启动，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 Hilo收藏品中。这种EDXRF系统是专门为快速和非破坏性分析而设计的，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，并将允许新一代太平洋岛民学生（占UH Hilo学生总数的21%）接受最先进的地质和考古技术的培训。就研究而言，该项目的重要之处在于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。在吸引代表性不足的学生进入考古学和地质学领域方面，这也应该是非常重要的。通过为UH Hilo的学生提供学习一种非破坏性的史前夏威夷石器分析方法的机会，希望更多的土著太平洋岛屿学生能够在科学方法和对他们祖先过去的理解/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.