George (Rip) Rapp, James Allert, Vanda Vitali, Zhichun Jing, and Eiler Henrickson, 2000. 2000. University Press of America, Lanham. ISBN 0-7618-1688-7 (cloth, alkaline paper). 100 pages, plus 145 pages of appendices, a glossary, and a bibliography; and an index.
This little book out of the University at Minnesota of Duluth's now-defunct Archaeometry Laboratory describes in a step-by-step fashion the authors' 25-year-long study to attempt to identify the source of copper used by Native Americans to make tools and decorative items.
Each of the ten chapters in the book addresses a step in the process, from identifying the sources in the continent, determining each source's characteristic assemblage (native copper includes such impurities as silver, chromium, and arsenic), using statistics to identify those characteristics by which each source can be identified, building a database of this information, and finally testing the data against the archaeological record.
Each of the ten chapters in the book addresses a step in the process, from identifying the sources in the continent, determining each source's characteristic assemblage (native copper includes such impurities as silver, chromium, and arsenic), using statistics to identify those characteristics by which each source can be identified, building a database of this information, and finally testing the data against the archaeological record.
Possible Copper Sources in North America
Detailed information is provided on seventeen known copper sources on the North American continent, including one in Alaska, three in Arizona, seven in the Lake Superior region (including five in Michigan, one in Minnesota, and one in Wisconsin), and six in eastern Canada and the US (including two in New Jersey, two in Nova Scotia, one in Ontario, two in Pennsylvania). Also provided is a description of the methods used (trace element analysis based on neutron activation) and the results of the study, including what percentage of non-copper elements are found in each copper source, and what those elements are. Tests of the database and a discriminant analysis of the data are described in detail. Finally, the authors compare archaeological copper from three sites in Minnesota to their data and report the results.
While the book includes a glossary, it is still rather technical for the casual reader, but for college students and others wishing to learn about copper metallurgy, its methods and foibles, this is an excellent introduction.
Sources for More Information
Bibliography of Copper in Prehistory
An Overview of Neutron Activation Analysis, from Michael Glasscock, University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR)
An Overview of Neutron Activation Analysis, from Michael Glasscock, University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR)
