Developing Techniques to Provenance Jaspers from Central Pennsylvania
Open Access
- Author:
- Nagle, Natasha Noel
- Area of Honors:
- Interdisciplinary in Classics Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Geoscienes
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Peter J Heaney, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Maureen Feineman, Thesis Honors Advisor
Mary Lou Zimmerman Munn, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- chert
jasper
Central Pennsylvania
Mediterranean
provenance
archaeology
museum collections - Abstract:
- Siliceous lithics within the archaeological record uniquely provide insights regarding the interactions between ancient peoples and their geologic location. However, determining the provenance of these materials has long been a challenge within the archaeological community due to their fine grained structure and heterogeneity. With our modern technologies it is within our reach to determine differences throughout the chert deposits across the world, and in doing so, to increase our understanding of how ancient peoples utilized their landscape and interacted with other neighboring communities. Merging geochemical techniques with the inherently interdisciplinary studies of archaeology and classics is a method through which may reveal a greater understanding of these interactions. This study works to determine a better methodology for identifying provenance localities of jaspers within the Central Pennsylvania area through the use of SEM, EDS, XRD, and thin sectioning analysis in order to focus upon and identify key differences in morphology and formational processes, along with chemical indicators, of the materials from these localities. In doing so, we open new avenues into the analysis of siliceous materials in archaeological contexts, thus breathing new life into museum and excavation collections the world over.