Neutron Activation of Turquoise Artifacts From Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Mathien, Frances Joan

doi:10.1086/202671

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Since turquoise did not occur naturally in the canyon, the large quantities that have been excavated there by archaeologists must have been imported. The most likely source was the Cerrillos mine, which is located approximately 100 miles to the east-southeast (Weigand, Harbottle, and Sayre 1977;Mathien 1981). However, at least some turquoise was also obtained from mines in Arizona and Colorado (Sieglo 1970).…”

Section: Turquoisementioning

confidence: 99%

Elite Styles in Hierarchically Organized Societies

Neitzel¹

1995

Style, Society, and Person

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Section: Turquoisementioning

confidence: 99%

Elite Styles in Hierarchically Organized Societies

Neitzel¹

1995

Style, Society, and Person

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“…The first scientific efforts to identify the sources of archaeological turquoise employed trace-element analyses to infer links between artifacts and mines (Sigleo, 1975;Weigand et al, 1977). Trace-element analysis remained the dominant approach to investigating turquoise provenance for three decades (e.g., Sigleo, 1975;Mathien, 1981;Kim et al, 2003), but most investigations were small scale, and at least one was unable to separate mines based on trace-element profiles (e.g., Mathien and Olinger, 1992). The one large-scale program devoted to turquoise sourcing measured the trace-element compositions of thousands of archaeological and geological turquoise samples by neutron activation (Weigand et al, 1977;Harbottle and Weigand, 1992;Weigand, 1994;Weigand and Harbottle, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic evidence for the provenance of turquoise in the southwestern United States

Thibodeau

Killick

Hedquist

et al. 2015

Geological Society of America Bulletin

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The archaeological record shows that turquoise was widely mined and highly valued by pre-Hispanic societies in the southwestern United States, and it has long been assumed that much of the turquoise noted in ancient Mesoamerica was traded from this region. However, little is understood about the acquisition and exchange of turquoise by Native American societies because the geological sources of most turquoise artifacts from archaeological sites in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico are not known. We evaluate the potential for Pb and Sr isotopic ratios to indicate the geological provenance of turquoise artifacts recovered from these regions. Pb and Sr isotopic measurements were made on 137 geological samples of turquoise from 19 mining districts across the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These data reveal that isotopic signatures of turquoise deposits vary geographically according to regional and local differences in the geologic settings of turquoise mineralization. As an archaeological case study, we also report Pb and Sr isotopic data on 10 turquoise artifacts recovered from three late pre-Hispanic (ca. A.D. 1250-1400) ancestral Zuni sites located in the El Morro Valley of western New Mexico. These have isotopic signatures uniquely consistent with the turquoise deposits of the Cerrillos Hills, a location identified in Zuni traditional history as an ancient source of turquoise. These data thus establish Pb and Sr isotopic measurements as powerful tools for determining the sources of turquoise artifacts and provide a new framework for evaluating the role of turquoise in pre-Hispanic exchange networks across North America.

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“…This connection is hardly new; archaeologists have long recognized that turquoise was valued among many of the region's prehispanic societies. Many consider the valuation and distribution of turquoise within an economic framework (e.g., Di Peso 1968; Frisbie 1980; Lummis 1920:219; Riley 1980:15), and focus on questions of procurement and exchange (e.g., Harbottle and Weigand 1992; Hull et al, 2008; Judge et al 1981; Mathien 1981, 1986, 1993; Reyman 1995; Snow 1973; Weigand 1992, 1994; Weigand and Harbottle 1993; Weigand et al 1977; Windes 1987, 1992; Young et al 1994).…”

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confidence: 99%

Lines of Communication: Mimbres Hachure and Concepts of Color

Russell¹,

Klassen

Salazar

2017

Am. Antiq.

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Turquoise has played an important role in the Southwest, both today and in the distant past. Increasingly, archaeologists are coming to appreciate that the mineral was likely valued for its symbolism, rather than its chemical properties or economic worth. Thus, the color blue-green and a variety of blue-green things may have been conceptually analogous, together referencing and petitioning moisture. J. J. Brody recognized that additional symbols, while not themselves blue-green, may have likewise belonged to this blue-green complex. Over a decade ago, and while testing Brody's hypothesis, Stephen Plog convincingly argued that black-on-white hachure in Gallup-Dogoszhi pottery served as a proxy for blue-green. Here, we ask whether Mimbres artists incorporated the same symbolism. Findings suggest that Mimbres hachure was likely representative of color but not necessarily blue-green. In fact, it may have referenced yellow. Yellow and blue are often paired among the Pueblos, and interregional differences in the meaning of hachure may relate to interregional complementarity.

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Neutron Activation of Turquoise Artifacts From Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Elite Styles in Hierarchically Organized Societies

Elite Styles in Hierarchically Organized Societies

Isotopic evidence for the provenance of turquoise in the southwestern United States

Lines of Communication: Mimbres Hachure and Concepts of Color

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