Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

L a ke E rie
N E W
Sample #1
Y O R KSample #2 Sample #3
4
North
Sample #4
W est B ranch
Sample #5
3
Branch
OHIO
1
2
P E N N S Y L V A N I A
Juanita
River
Susquehanna River
N
0 60 km
WEST
VIRGINIA
VIRGINIA
MARYLAND
DELAWARE
NEW JERSEY
J. Skiba
Figure 7.3. Map showing the location of the (1) Fisher Farm (36CE35), (2) St. Anthony’s
(36UN11), (3) Wells (36BR59), and (4) Tioga Point Farm Sites (36BR52, 36BR3), and clay
samples (samples 1-5) analyzed during this study.
Owasco and Clemson Island sherds were found in
association with each other and are considered to have
been used by the same occupants of the site. Data were
also collected on five raw clay samples from various
locations throughout the Upper Susquehanna Valley
(Figure 7.3). When used in conjunction with data from
ceramic sherds, compositional profiles of these samples
provide a basis for determining the local manufacture
of containers (Bishop et al. 1982; Lizee et al. 1995).
Analytical Techniques
All samples were analyzed using x-ray fluorescence
at the Department of Physics Accelerator Laboratory at
the University at Albany, State University of New York.
X-ray fluorescence analysis was chosen because of its
availability to the researcher and its nondestructive
nature, allowing museum collections to be analyzed.
Two spatially distinct readings were taken on each
sample to ensure homogeneity within a single vessel
(Rieth 1997). A similar technique was used by Stimmell
et al. (1991:47-51) in their work on prehistoric pottery in
Ontario and Manitoba.
The technique used in this study allowed proportional
data about the relationship of the elements to be
collected. As discussed in Kuhn (1986:12), proportional
data allow ratios, or the proportions of trace elements,
to be measured in terms of “the number of characteristic
x-rays observed in fixed time.” Following bombardment
of the sample with x-rays from a radioisotope, a
sample emits fluorescent x-rays whose energies are
characteristic of the elements present in the sherd
(Kuhn 1986:12, 1989:26-27). The energy levels of each
element are then recorded numerically, allowing concentrations
(or peak counts) of specific elements to be
determined.
Fifteen elements were measured for each sample—
iron (Fe), rubidium (Rb), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba),
lead (Pb), yttrium (Y), zirconium (Zr), zinc (Zn), vanadium
(V), potassium (K), titanium (Ti), scandium (Sc),
manganese (Mg), copper (Cu), and nickel (Ni)—to
distinguish different clay deposits. Vanadium (V) and
potassium (K) were removed from the final analysis
due to low detection rates. Although these elements
are sufficient for distinguishing regional clay profiles,
in most cases, additional samples and elements are
needed to identify the precise location of a specific
clay deposit. Since that was beyond the scope of this
project, the results are discussed only in terms of the
regional clay profile. Principal components analysis,
142 Rieth