Provenance
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Recently, we have used PIXE and INAA to investigate Native American copper [i] and ceramic [ii] artifacts from the Caborn-Welborn region in Western Kentucky.  Our use of INAA to “source” ceramics is similar to the work of Glascock and Neff at the University of Missouri Research Reactor Archaeometry Laboratory.  

We have recently demonstrated with PIXE that red ochres from Western North America can be differentiated based upon their minor and trace-element composition [iii].  Red ochres may be best known for their use in cave paintings and in ritual burial contexts, but they were also widely used by ancient and historic peoples as both internal and external medications, food or wood preservatives, insect repellent, and for hide tanning.  Because red ochres were highly valued and traded over long distances, they would be useful in reconstructing ancient trade and travel routes.  Their potential archaeological value should be enhanced by their wide use and stability.  To successfully use red ochres to reconstruct past trade and travel patterns, however, the potential sources within any given region must first be identified and then the geochemistry of these sources must be investigated to determine whether the sources can be differentiated.  Aside from the work of David et al. [iv] in Northern Australia and the work of Weinstein-Evron and Ilani’s [v] in the Mount Carmel area of Israel, the background research does not appear to have been conducted to allow provenance studies of red ochres to proceed.  Having demonstrated the feasibility, we are now using INAA to (1) characterize the geochemistry of red ochre sources from North America and (2) perform provenance studies red ochres.