MCI Project Summaries 2008 - Smithsonian Institution

IRMS #: 0001
PI: Caroline Solazzo (MCI)
Smithsonian Initiative: Valuing World Cultures
Title: Identification of Salish blanket fiber materials
Project Summary: This research seeks to resolve questions as to source of protein fiber in
blended yarn used by the North West Coast Salish tribes in making blankets, a subject of active
debate. The research method involves comparison of provenienced dog and mountain goat hair
fibers to unknown fibers from the provenienced Salish blankets, using a range of analytical
techniques including proteomics (peptide sequence comparison) and stable isotopic analyses.
The results will be of interest to North-American archaeologists and ethnologists first as the use
or not of dog hair will change or confirm theories about the Coast Salish and shed new light on
Native American weaving and archaeology in general. The second interest is for archaeological
sciences: proteomics is a recent discipline, being applied to archeology for the past three years.
Its potential is just now beginning to be understood and textile identification can be a huge
application for archaeology and conservation. At the same time, it will enlarge the database of
provenienced animal fiber sources sequenced by the proteomics methodology.
IRMS #: 0002
PIs: Ilka Feller and Anne Chamberlin (SERC)
Smithsonian Initiative: Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet
Title: Effects of nutrient enrichment and species diversity on ecological stoichiometry
Project Summary: This is a study on how nutrient enrichment alters food webs in the
mangroves. These samples cover how different snail species differ their feeding on different
species of enriched mangrove leaves.
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