University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Examining the diagnostic value of 87SR/86SR for midwestern blue-gray chert source determination

Evans, Madeleine G

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121429

Description

Title
Examining the diagnostic value of 87SR/86SR for midwestern blue-gray chert source determination
Author(s)
Evans, Madeleine G
Issue Date
2023-06-26
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
  • Ambrose, Stanley H.
  • Pauketat, Timothy R.
Department of Study
Anthropology
Discipline
Anthropology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
  • chert source provenience
  • lithic material procurement
  • strontium isotope analysis
  • Midwestern bluish-gray chert
Abstract
Identifying sources of lithic raw material can provide insight into interaction between distant communities in the form of travel or exchange. Geological sources might index symbolically meaningful locations or the settings of everyday local activities. Methods of sourcing lithic raw material have become increasingly sophisticated over the last 50 years as archaeologists explore interdisciplinary techniques for characterizing material from different proveniences. With more than ten visually similar bluish-gray chert sources in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, geological provenience assignment of artifacts produced from these materials has proven to be a particularly confounding task. Geochemical analysis aimed at distinguishing bluish-gray chert from different Midwestern sources using strontium isotope analysis appears to be a promising technique based on data derived from analysis of 34 samples from four geological sources. Results show that the 87Sr/86Sr of Cobden-Dongola chert is distinct from Wyandotte, Kentucky Blue, and St. Louis chert from Robertson County Tennessee. It appears likely that bivariate classification using the ratio of rubidium to strontium as well as 87Sr/86Sr will increase the diagnostic potential of analyses of geological specimens and artifacts.
Graduation Semester
2023-08
Type of Resource
Thesis
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2023, Madeleine G. Evans

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