Radiocarbon Dating of Copper-Preserved Organics

Beukens, R.P.; Pavlish, L. A.; Hancock, R. G. V.; Farquhar, R. M.; Wilson, Graham C.; Julig, Patrick J.; Ross, William A.

doi:10.1017/s0033822200064213

Cited by 22 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, typically perishable fibers will be preserved when found in association with copper-based metal artifacts (Drooker 2004:1; Petersen and Blustain 2004:150). As artifacts such as brass beads, bracelets, and kettles degrade, they produce toxic biocides that limit the deterioration of cloth found in proximity to such copper-rich objects (Beukens et al 1992:892). Unless textiles are deposited in these extraordinary preservation environments, however, acidic soils will promote their decay.…”

Section: Cloth and Colonialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Fabric of Empire in a Native World: An Analysis of Trade Cloth Recovered from Eighteenth-Century Otstonwakin

Levine

2019

Am. Antiq.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The residents of Otstonwakin, an eighteenth-century multinational Native American village in Pennsylvania, were involved in extensive trade networks that resulted in the incorporation, modification, and selective adoption of a variety of European-manufactured goods and technologies. Although Native Americans in the fur trade era like those at Otstonwakin negotiated the exchange of a wide array of commodities including alcohol, firearms, iron tools, and brass kettles, the most commonly traded commodity was cloth. Despite its role as a cornerstone commodity, colonial trade cloth has received considerably less scholarly attention than more durable objects largely because very few textiles have survived into the twenty-first century. This article reports on a rare find, a preserved European textile from Otstonwakin's burial ground recovered in the 1930s and hitherto unanalyzed. By analyzing the fabric fragments, sewing thread, and lace with metallic thread, I explore the material and social negotiation of colonial identity on the Pennsylvania frontier.

show abstract

Section: Cloth and Colonialismmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Fabric of Empire in a Native World: An Analysis of Trade Cloth Recovered from Eighteenth-Century Otstonwakin

Levine

2019

Am. Antiq.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Ten years later, a series of papers was published on archaeological and geological copper‐based metal analyses, beginning with the separation of European trade copper from native copper (Hancock et al 1991a,b). This was followed by a paper on radiocarbon dating of organic materials that had been preserved by the copper artefacts with which they were closely associated (Beukens et al 1992); by papers on the analyses of copper‐based metals from archaeological sites in Ontario (Hancock et al 1993a, 1995a–c, 1999b; Fox et al 1995; Pavlish et al 1996, 1998; Anselmi et al 1997; Walker et al 1999), in Quebec (Moreau et al 1994, 1997; Moreau and Hancock 1995, 1996a,b, 1999a,b) and in Nova Scotia (Whitehead et al 1999), in northeastern Canada.…”

Section: Numbers Of Archaeological and Historical Samples Analysedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeometry at Slowpoke‐toronto

2007

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper describes the archaeometric research conducted at the SLOWPOKE ReactorFacility of the University of Toronto (SLOWPOKE-Toronto) during its existence from 1971 to 1998. The contributions to student teaching and research are described, and the total contribution of the facility to studies of an eclectic assortment of ancient and historic materials is addressed. experimentation, many researchers from a wide variety of disciplines had access to what turned out to be a useful analytical technique.Archaeometric research began in the first year of facility operation, and had a 27-year history, continuing through to the closing of SLOWPOKE-Toronto in late 1998. ARCHAEOMETRIC USAGE PATTERNSThe information presented in this section has been culled from contributions from individual academics to SLOWPOKE-Toronto Annual Reports and the SLOWPOKE Publications collection. It therefore probably represents a reasonable description of what really occurred, somewhat akin to the way in which INAA data describe archaeological materials.Ceramic analyses began in the first year of reactor operation, using a donated 100-channel multichannel analyser ( Thirteen elements were positively identified and there were strong indications of seven more ; Hancock and Franklin 1972). Archaeometrically inclined students, however, did not initiate research projects until the 1974-5 academic year (Czuba 1975;Katz 1975;Stahl 1975), and the first conference presentations were not until 1976 (Hancock 1976a;Hancock and Franklin 1976).A summary of the long-term, archaeometric usefulness of SLOWPOKE-Toronto is presented in Table 1. In this, five-year blocks of numbers are presented for student reports and theses, for conference presentations, and for final publications in journals or conference proceedings. Of the archaeometric student research projects, most were undertaken by undergraduate students (43), with six master's projects (. The last undergraduate report, on the analysis of red glass beads, was by Kwok (1998).In the numbers of student research projects, there was growth over the first decade, followed by consistent output. This continuing archaeometric contribution to the overall research and teaching undertaken at SLOWPOKE-Toronto was noted by a Dean of Engineering, who bemoaned the fact that his faculty was supporting a facility that was being used significantly by non-engineering students. This profession-centric view made no allowances for the many non-engineering students who would later go on to academic and other meaningful employment.The unique hands-on learning opportunities provided by SLOWPOKE-Toronto must certainly have helped the careers of many students. It was also almost the only opportunity that archaeologists got to wear white lab coats.

show abstract

“…Until recently, the use of copper was attributed to a period commencing about 5.0 ka B.P., but direct dating of the organic materials preserved in archaeological copper artifacts has shown that prehistoric people of the Lake Superior region were working native copper of the Minnesota-Ontario boundary area as early as 7.0 ka B.P. (Beukins et al, 1992). No longer can it be contended that the presence of copper tools indicates a Late Archaic age.…”

Section: Longer-term Pre-nipissing Transgressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A time‐space model for the distribution of shoreline archaeological sites in the lake superior basin

Phillips

1993

Geoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Archaeological site interpretation can be enhanced by consideration of related geological and geomorphological processes. Lake Superior has a history of glaciation, isostatic recovery, and water-level change. Two examples are given of shoreline sites at which interpretation is enhanced by an understanding of local geologic factors. The archaeologic history of the Lake Superior basin is reviewed, and three cultural traditions are recognized; (1) Paleoindian, (2) Archaic, and (3) Woodland. Three significant factors ofgeologic history are then discussed: (1) ice margin oscillation, (2) differential isostatic uplift, and (3) lake-level fluctuations. The factors reducing o r improving shoreline archaeological site preservation are examined, and a summary model of shoreline site distribution for the Lake Superior basin is offered. It is concluded that the north shore provides the best potential for a complete archaeological record. 8 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. PROLOGUEIt is of concern to many geologists and geomorphologists who approach archaeology in their work, that incomplete or erroneous interpretation of archaeological sites sometimes comes about through insufficient attention to the "geologic filter," that is, the set of geological processes acting on the site and the context in which they took place. The object of pointing out the potential for misinterpretation is not to criticize the existing skills of the archaeologist, but to demonstrate that archaeological interpretation, both at local and regional scales, can be enhanced by more adequate consideration of geologic and geomorphic processes.Lake shorelines are biologically productive zones, particularly where sheltered embayments, marshes, and river mouths occur, and it is in these locations that prehistoric peoples have tended to concentrate their activities. The shoreline of Lake Superior, 82,103 km2 in area, is for the greater part comprised of rugged rock shores, such that bayhead beaches, marshlands, and river mouths are particularly important as potential habitation sites. Because of glaciation and isostatic uplift, Lake Superior is rimmed by the remains of strandlines of former post-glacial lakes occupying the basin, and it is on these that much of the evidence for prehistoric occupation has been found. SHORELINE SITE MODEL, LAKE SUPERIOR 50. 90 85 I I NORMERN ON 90 85 Figure 1. The Lake Superior basin-location map.-50 of these shoreline related sites has been closely linked to the succession of strandlines, which in places descend to present lake level in a staircase of lakeshore terraces . Larsen (1985), in a study of Lakes Michigan and Huron, warns that past approaches t o geological and archaeological studies of those lakes has shown that archaeological interpretation has been too closely tied to the current interpretation of post-glacial chronology, and that the interpretation of coastal landforms has relied more on surficial studies than on subsurface stratigraphical relationships (p. 96). The glacial and post-glacial history of the Superior ba...

show abstract

Radiocarbon Dating of Copper-Preserved Organics

Cited by 22 publications

References 14 publications

The Fabric of Empire in a Native World: An Analysis of Trade Cloth Recovered from Eighteenth-Century Otstonwakin

The Fabric of Empire in a Native World: An Analysis of Trade Cloth Recovered from Eighteenth-Century Otstonwakin

Archaeometry at Slowpoke‐toronto

A time‐space model for the distribution of shoreline archaeological sites in the lake superior basin

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About