University of Arizona

ANTHROPOLOGY 474/574.
Archaeometry: The Role of the Sciences in Art and Archaeology

INSTRUCTOR:

David Killick Room 306, Emil W. Haury Building Phone: 621-8685 E-mail: killick@u.arizona.edu.

PREREQUISITES: This course is primarily intended for those majoring in archaeology (whether in Anthropology, Near Eastern Studies or Classics) and for graduate students in these disciplines. Undergraduates intending to take this course must have completed at least one 300-level archaeology course (e.g. ANTH 304) or have equivalent experience. I assume that all students will have had at least introductory college physics and chemistry, but the course does not require math beyond acquaintance with logarithms. It is intended to be a consumer’s guide to archaeometry for those seriously interested in a career in archaeology or conservation, not a training course for archaeometrists.

REQUIREMENTS: For all students: attendance at classes, participation in discussion. For undergraduates only: mid-term and final exam (each 30% of final grade; one 10-page paper (25% of grade); take-home assignments (15% of grade). Honors students have the same written assignments but must do extra assigned reading and attend (with the graduate students) an additional discussion session of one hour each week. For graduate students only: No exams, additional readings, one extra hour discussion (time TBA) per week; two twenty page papers OR one semester-long original research project.

All paper topics and research projects must be approved in advance by the instructor. All papers must be based on substantial reading, as documented by in-text references and a full list of sources at the end of the paper. Quoted material must be set out in quotation marks and properly acknowledged. Papers will be graded for content, for organization and for expression (grammar, spelling, clarity). I do not accept papers based wholly or predominantly upon material found on the Internet. Plagiarism on any single assignment or paper may result in a grade of E for the course as a whole.

You must have access to the Internet to do some of the coursework. Not all the material covered in the course is in the assigned readings, so you must attend the lectures and take adequate notes. If you must be absent, please notify the instructor in advance and arrange to obtain copies of notes for that lecture from a classmate.

TEXTS: The following are required and available in paperback at the ASUA bookstore:

Bowman, Sheridan, Radiocarbon dating, London: British Museum, 1990.

Pollard, Mark and Carl Heron, Archaeological Chemistry. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry, 1996

SCHEDULE OF LECTURES

August 24	Introduction to course; history of archaeometry; resources
August 26	Radiocarbon dating: history, principles, collection of samples, and measurement by beta decay-counting.
August 31	Radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS).
September 2	Tour of NSF/University of Arizona AMS facility.
September 7	Dendrochronology and calibration of radiocarbon dates.
September 9	Working with radiocarbon dates; interlaboratory calibration.
September 14	Dendrochronology and dendroclimatology: tour of the Tree Ring laboratory.
September 16	Amino-acid racemization dating and obsidian hydration dating.
September 21	Radiometric dating of older materials (K/Ar, Ar/Ar, fission tracks).
September 23	Uranium series dating, electron spin resonance dating, thermoluminescence.
September 28	Archaeomagnetic dating; other dating methods.
September 30	Optical and electron microscopy in archaeology (1).
October 5	Optical and electron microscopy in archaeology (2).
October 7	Pyrotechnology: plasters and ceramics.
October 12	Mid-term exam (474 only).
October 14	Pyrotechnology: glazes and glass.
October 19	Pyrotechnology: metallurgy.
October 21	Provenance of lithic materials by optical petrography and chemical analysis.
October 26	Provenance of ceramics.
October 28	Provenance of metals and ores.
November 2	Identification of organic residues; ancient DNA.
November 4	Geoarchaeology.
November 9	Geophysical prospecting - archaeology without excavation?
November 11	Veteran's day; no class.
November 16	Inferring prehistoric diet: chemical approaches.
November 18	Inferring prehistoric diet: isotopic approaches.
November 23	Pollution, health and status in past populations.
November 25	Thanksgiving; no class.
November 30	Integrating archaeometry, ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology.
December 2	The relationship of archaeometry to archaeology in the USA.
December 7	Summary and review.
December 16	Final exam (474 only).

READING
(Those marked * are required only for honors and graduate students)

August 24	Introduction to course; history of archaeometry; resources. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 1-19, 347-363. Trigger, B. 1988       Archaeology's relations with the physical and biological sciences: a historical review. In Proceedings of the 26th International Archaeometry Symposium, Toronto, pp. 1-9.
August 26	Radiocarbon dating: history, principles, collection of samples, and measurement by beta decay counting. Bowman, S. 1990       Radiocarbon Dating, pp. 1-42.
August 31	Radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). *Bada, J.L., R. Gillespie, J.A.J. Gowlett and R.E.M. Hedges 1989      Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages of amino acid extracts from California PaleoIndian skeletons. Nature 312:442-444. Damon, P.E. et al. 1989      Age of the Shroud of Turin. Nature 337:611-615. Hedges, R.E.M. and J.A.J. Gowlett 1986      Radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry. Scientific American 254:100-107 *Ward, G.K and Wilson, S.R. 1978      Procedures for comparing and combining radiocarbon dates: a critique. Archaeometry 20:19-32.
September 2	Tour of NSF/University of Arizona AMS facility. Bowman, S. 1990       Radiocarbon Dating, pp. 43-62. *Schiffer, M. 1986      Radiocarbon dating and the "old wood" problem: the case of the Hohokam chronology. Journal of Archaeological Science 13:13-30.
September 7	Dendrochronology and calibration of radiocarbon dates Aitken, M.J. 1990       Science-based dating in archaeology (London: Longman), pp.92-119. *Buck, C.E. and J.A. Cristen 1998      A novel approach to selecting samples for radiocarbon dating. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:303-310.
September 9	Working with radiocarbon dates; interlaboratory calibration. Schott, M.J. 1991      Radiocarbon dating as a probabilistic technique: the Childers site and Late Woodland occupation in the Ohio Valley. American Antiquity 57:202-230. *Scott, E. M., T. C. Aitchison, D. D. Harkness, G. T. Cook & M. S. Baxter. 1990      An overview of all three stages of the international radiocarbon comparison. Radiocarbon 32: 309-19.
September 14	Dendrochronology and dendroclimatology: tour of the Tree Ring laboratory. Spend some time exploring the web sites of the University of Arizona Tree Ring Laboratory (http://www.ltrr.arizona.edu/) and the Aegean Dendrochronology Project (http://www.arts.cornell.edu/dendro). The U of A web site has a very good explanation of how to do dendrochronology – read all of it. *Ahlstrom, R. V., J. S. Dean and William J. Robinson Evaluating tree-ring interpretations at Walpi Pueblo, Arizona. American Antiquity 56: 628-644.
September 16	Amino-acid racemization dating and obsidian hydration dating. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 271-301. *Anowitz, L. M., J. M. Elam, L. R. Riciputi and D.R. Cole 1999      The failure of obsidian hydration dating: sources, implications and new directions. Journal of Archaeological Sciences 26: 735-754
September 21	Radiometric dating of older materials (K/Ar, Ar/Ar, fission tracks). Aitken, M.J. 1990       Science-based dating in archaeology (London: Longman), pp.120-140.
September 23	Uranium series dating, electron spin resonance, thermoluminescence. Wintle, A. G. 1996      Archaeologically-relevant dating techniques for the next century: small, hot and identified by acronyms. Journal of Archaeological Science 23: 123-138. *Aitken, M.J. 1989      Luminescence dating: a guide for non-specialists. Archaeometry 31:147-160. *Grun, R. and C.B. Stringer 1991      Electron spin resonance dating and the evolution of modern humans. Archaeometry 33:153-199.
September 28	Archaeomagnetic dating; other dating methods. Kappelman, John 1995      The attractions of paleomagnetism. Evolutionary Anthropology ??:89-99 Eighmy, J. L. , R. S. Sternberg and R. F. Butler 1980      Archaeomagnetic dating in the American Southwest. American Antiquity 45: 507-517. *Batt, C. M. 1997      The British archaeomagnetic calibration curve: an objective treatment. Archaeometry 39: 153-168
September 30	Optical and electron microscopy in archaeology (1). Killick, D. 1996      Optical and electron microscopy in material culture studies. In Learning from Things, edited by W. David Kingery, pp. 204-230. (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press). *Smith, C.S. 1981      The interpretation of microstructures of metallic artifacts. In C.S. Smith, A search for structure: selected essays on science, art and history. (Cambridge: M.I.T. Press), pp. 69-111.
October 5	Optical and electron microscopy in archaeology (2). Tite, M. 1990      The impact of electron microscopy on ceramic studies. Proceedings of the British Academy 77:111-131. *Kingery, W.D. 1987      Microstructure analysis as part of a holistic interpretation of ceramic art and archaeological artifacts. Archaeomaterials 1:91-99
October 7	Pyrotechnology: plasters and ceramics. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 104-148. *Kingery, W.D., P.B. Vandiver and M. Prickett 1988      The beginnings of pyrotechnology, Part II: production and use of lime and gypsum plaster in the pre-pottery Neolithic Near East. Journal of Field Archaeology 15:219-244
October 12	Mid-term exam (474 only).
October 14	Pyrotechnology: glazes and glass. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 149-195.
October 19	Pyrotechnology: metallurgy. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 196-238. *Craddock, P. T. 1989      The scientific investigation of early mining and metallurgy. In J. Henderson (ed.) Scientific analysis in archaeology (Oxford: Oxford University Committee for Archaeology, Monograph 19), pp. 178-212
October 21	Provenance of lithic materials by optical petrography and chemical analysis. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 81-103. *Shackley, M. S. 1998      Gamma Rays, X-Rays and stone tools: some recent advances in archaeological geochemistry. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:259-270
October 26	Provenance of ceramics. Dickinson, W.R., J. Takayama, E.A. Snow and R.Shutler 1991      Sand temper of probable Fijian origin in prehistoric potsherds from Tuvalu. Antiquity 64:307-312. Triadan, D., H. Neff and M. D. Glascock 1997      An evaluation of the archaeological relevance of weak-acid extraction ICP: White Mountain Redware as a case study. Journal of Archaeological Science 24: 997-1002 *Schubert, P. 1986      Petrographic modal analysis - a necessary complement to chemical analysis of ceramic coarse ware. Archaeometry 28:163-178.
October 28	Provenance of metals and ores. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 302-340. *Gale, N.H. 1989      Archaeometallurgical Studies of Late Bronze Age Ox-Hide Ingots from the Mediterranean Region. In Archaometallurgie der Alten Welt, edited by A. Hauptmann, E. Penicka, and G.A. Wagner, pp. 247-268.
November 2	Identification of organic residues; ancient DNA. Pollard, M. and Heron, C. 1996       Archaeological Chemistry, pp. 239-270. *Loy, T. H. and J. E. Dixon 1998      Blood residues on fluted points from Eastern Beringia. American Antiquity 63:21-46. *Eisele, J.A., D.D. Fowler, G. Haynes and R.A. Lewis 1993      Survival and detection of blood residues on stone tools. Antiquity 69:36-46.
November 4	Geoarchaeology. van Andel, T.H., E. Zangger and A. Demitrack 1990      Land use and soil erosion in prehistoric and historical Greece. Journal of Field Archaeology 17:379-396 McPhail, R. I., M.-A. Courty and P. Goldberg 1990       Soil micromorphology in archaeology. Endeavour 14: 163-172 *Goldberg, P. 1988      The archaeologist as viewed by the geologist. Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988:197-202
November 9	Geophysical prospecting - archaeology without excavation? Glass, C.E. n.d.      Application of geophysical techniques to archaeology. (unpublished) *McHugh, W.P., J. F. McCauley, C. V. Haynes, C.S. Breed and G.G. Schaber 1988      Paleorivers and geoarchaeology in the southern Egyptian Sahara. Geoarchaeology 3:1-40
November 11	Veteran's day; no class.
November 16	Inferring prehistoric diet: chemical approaches. Schoeninger, M.J. 1979      Diet and status at Chalcatzingo: some empirical and technical aspects of strontium analysis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 51:295-309 Sealy, J.C. and A. Sillen 1987      Sr and Sr/Ca in terrestrial foodwebs in the southwestern Cape, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 15:425-438 *Ezzo, J. 1994b      Putting the "Chemistry" back into Archaeological Bone Chemistry Analysis: Modelling Potential Paleodietary Indicators. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 13:1-34.
November 18	Inferring prehistoric diet: isotopic approaches. van der Merwe, N.J. 1982      Carbon isotopes, photosynthesis and archaeology. American Scientist 70:596-606 Burger, R. L. and N. J. van der Merwe 1990      Maize and the origin of Highland Chavin civilization: an isotopic perspective. American Anthropologist 92:85-95 *Sillen, A., J.C. Sealy and N.J. van der Merwe 1989      Chemistry and paleodietary research: no more easy answers. American Antiquity 54:504-512
November 23	Pollution, health and status in past populations. Aufderheide, A.C., F.D. Neiman, L.E. Wittmers and G. Rapp 1981      Lead in bone II. Skeletal-lead content as an indicator of lifetime lead ingestion and the social correlates in an archaeological population. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 55:285-291 *Handler, J. S., Aufderheide, A. C., Corruccini, R. S., Brandon, E. M. and Wittmers, L. E. 1986      Lead contact and poisoning in Barbados slaves: historical, chemical and biological evidence. Social Science History 10: 399-426. Hong, S., Candelone, J.-P., Patterson, C.C. and Boutron, C.F. 1994      Greenland ice evidence of hemispheric lead pollution two millennia ago by Greek and Roman civilizations. Science 265:1841-1843.
November 25	Thanksgiving; no class.
November 30	Integrating archaeometry, ethnoarchaeology and experiment. Killick, D. 1991      The relevance of recent African iron-smelting practice to reconstructions of prehistoric smelting technology. In P.D. Glumac (editor) Recent trends in archaeometallurgical research. Philadelphia: The University Museum (MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology 8, part 1), pp. 47-54. Gwinnett, A. John and Leonard Gorelick. 1988      Experimental Evidence for the Use of a Diamond Drill in Sri Lanka, ca. A.D. 700-1000. Archeomaterials 1:149-152. Juleff, G. 1996      An ancient wind-powered iron smelting technology in Sri Lanka. Nature 379:60-63. *Gosselain, O. P. 1992      Bonfire of the Inquiries. Pottery firing temperatures in archaeology: what for? Journal of Archaeological Science 19: 243-260
December 2	The relationship of archaeometry to archaeology. Dunnell, R. C. 1994      Why archaeologists don't care about archaeometry. Archeomaterials 7:161-165. Killick, D. and S. M. M. Young. 1997      Archaeology and archaeometry: from casual dating to a meaningful relationship? Antiquity 71:518-524. Pollard, M. 1995      Why teach Heisenberg to archaeologists? Antiquity 69:242-247.
December 7	Summary and review.
December 16	Final exam (474 only).