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

在大卫·代伊博士的指导下，瑞安·帕里什将通过无损反射光谱分析，检查用于制造密西西比州象征性武器“剑”的史前石材资源的来源。帕里什将检验单一来源假说，该假说认为，这些剑文物是从田纳西州多佛市附近史前开采的硅质岩中开采出来的。密西西比硅质剑的来源数据将使帕里什能够研究，尽管当地存在外观相似的Ft Payne矿床，但是否存在优先选择多佛硅质岩的情况。通过应用反射光谱学，帕里什将调查制造密西西比河剑文物所用材料的来源是否具有当前来源分配所暗示的文化意义。密西西比硅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)等级酋长领地的资源选择、区域间交流、社会政治组织和手工艺专业化。来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目测为是从多佛硅质岩中制造的。多佛硅质岩是一种物质类型，从俄克拉何马州到佐治亚州，再到北至纽约的考古组合中，代表着一种物质类型，横跨了广泛公认的密西西比州社会的很大一部分地区。多佛硅质岩的分布标志着密西西比时期建立了广泛的长途贸易网络。然而，东南部出露的Ft Payne和Low St.Louis(Dover)硅质岩存在宏观上相似的变体，这使得“Dover”硅质岩剑的来源变得不确定。该项目涉及对密西西比州硅石剑进行非破坏性分析，这些剑来自经过精心策划的收藏品，以前没有收到过分析研究。由于硅藻的变异性质，有必要建立一个有代表性的样本的大型数据库。建立一个代表东南部两种主要硅质岩类型的区域数据库，将有助于今后有关该区域史前记录的研究。反射光谱潜在的快速、廉价、准确和无损的特性促进了动态数据库的创建，该数据库将有助于未来与史前硅质岩的利用、选择、分布和获取有关的研究。该项目采用了多学科的方法，借鉴了人类学、考古学、化学、地理学、地质学和统计学的领域。反射光谱技术的发展解决了目前对硅质岩来源的限制，包括准确性、大量样本、对经过精选的人工制品的无损分析和速度。该项目将汇集考古学家、狙击手和地质学家。这项研究将标志着孟菲斯大学和默里州立大学对白垩岩起源研究的长期关注，从而鼓励多机构合作，使未来的学生受益。具体地说，该项目将为项目所有阶段的本科生提供培训。史前用于象征性收费物品的硅质岩资源的获取和消费为我们提供了一个人类学案例研究，帮助我们理解资源的选择、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.