Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarchaeology pp 143–160Cite as

Elemental Analysis of Fine-Grained Basalt Sources from the Samoan Island of Tutuila: Applications of Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) Toward an Intra-Island Provenance Study

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, elemental analysis of basalt artifacts and sources has been an integral component in the archaeological investigation of pre-contact interaction within Polynesia. In this time, the Samoan island of Tutuila has been well documented as a significant source of fine-grained basalt in the West Polynesia–Fiji interaction sphere. Since 2004, the chemical characterization of basalt sources and artifacts from Tutuila has been a primary focus of archaeometric research for the Texas A&M Anthropology Department in cooperation with the Elemental Analysis Laboratory (EAL) at the Texas A&M Center for Chemical Characterization and Analysis. The following chapter discusses recent attempts to determine the efficacy of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) toward the provenance study of basalt procurement sites on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa.

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6886-9_10

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6886-9_10

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen, M.S., & Johnson, K.T.M. (1997) Tracking ancient patterns of interaction: recent geochemical studies in the southern cook islands. In M.I. Weisler (Ed.), Prehistoric long-distance interaction in Oceania: an interdisciplinary approach (pp. 111–113). Auckland: New Zealand Archaeological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baxter, M.J. (1994) Exploratory multivariate analysis in archaeology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Best, S., Leach, H.M., & Witter, D.C. (1989) Report on the second phase of fieldwork at the Tataga-matau site, American Samoa, July–August 1988. Dunedin, NZ: Department of Anthropology, University of Otago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Best, S., Sheppard, P.J., Green, R.C., & Parker, R. (1992) Necromancing the stone: archaeologists and adzes in Samoa. Journal of the Polynesian Society, 101, 45–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, R.L., Canouts, V., Crown, P.L., & De Atley, S.P. (1990) Sensitivity, precision, and accuracy: their roles in ceramic compositional data bases. American Antiquity, 55, 537–546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buck, P.H. (1930) Samoan material culture. Honolulu, HI: Bernice P. Bishop Museum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. T..(1980) Historic Preservation in American Samoa: Program Evaluation and Archaeological Site Inventory. Unpublished manuscript, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu HI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J.T. (1989) The Eastern Tutuila Archaeological Project, 1988. Final report. Unpublished Report for the Government of America Samoa Office of Historic Preservation, Fargo, ND: North Dakota State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J.T. (1992) The archaeology of Alega valley – residence and small industry in prehistoric Samoa. Unpublished Report for the Government of America Samoa Office of Historic Preservation, Fargo, ND: North Dakota State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J.T., Wright, E., & Herdrich, D.J. (1997) Interactions within and beyond the Samoan archipelago: evidence from basaltic rock geochemistry. In M.I. Weisler (Ed.), Prehistoric long-distance interaction in Oceania: an interdisciplinary approach (pp. 68–83). Auckland: New Zealand Archaeological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collerson, K.D., & Weisler, M.I. (2007) Stone adze compositions and the extent of ancient Polynesian voyaging and trade. Science, 317, 1907–1911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crews, C.T. (2008) The lithics of Aganoa village (AS-22-43), American Samoa: a test of chemical characterization and sourcing Tutuilan tool-stone. Unpublished M.A. thesis, College Station, TX: Texas A&M University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, J.M. (1977) Western Polynesia and Fiji: prehistoric contact, diffusion and differentiation in adjacent archipelagos. World Archaeology, 9, 82–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glascock, M.D. (1992) Neutron activation analysis. In H. Neff (Ed.), Chemical characterization of ceramic pastes in archaeology (pp.11–26). Madison, WI: Monographs in World Archaeology No. 7. Prehistory Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glascock, M.D., Braswell, G.E., & Cobean, R.H. (1998) A systematic approach to obsidian source characterization. In M.S. Shackley (Ed.), Archaeological obsidian studies: method and theory (pp. 15–66). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, R.C. (1962) Obsidian, its application to archaeology. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter, 5, 8–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, R.C. (1964) Sources, ages and exploration of New Zealand obsidian: an interim report. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter, 7, 134–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, R.C. (1998) A 1990’s perspective on method and theory in archaeological volcanic glass studies. In M.S. Shackley (Ed.), Archaeological obsidian studies: method and theory (pp. 223–235). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath T. (1840) The Navigator’s or Samoan Islands. Their manners, customs and superstitions. The Polynesian 19 February, Vol. I, No. 15, Honolulu.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, W.D., Raulerson, M., & Johnson, P.R. (2007) Archaeometry at Texas A&M University: a characterization of Samoan basalts. Archaeometry, 49, 395–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, P.R. (2005) Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) characterization of pre-contact basalt quarries on the American Samoan Island of Tutuila. Unpublished M.A. thesis, College Station, TX: Texas A&M University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, P.R., Pearl, F.B., Eckert, S.L., & James, W.D. (2007) INAA of pre-contact basalt quarries on the Samoan Island of Tutuila: a preliminary baseline for an artifact-centered provenance study. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34(7), 1078–1087.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaeppler, A.L. (1978) Exchange patterns in goods and spouses: Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Mankind, 11, 246–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, J.G. (2005) Household and community organization in the Late Prehistoric Society Islands (French Polynesia). Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Berkeley: University of California-Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kikuchi, W.K. (1963) Archaeological surface ruins in American Samoa. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirch, P.V., & Green, R.C. (2001). Hawaiki, ancestral Polynesia: an essay in historical anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Leach, H.M., & Witter, D.C. (1985) Final project report on the survey of the Tataga-Matau fortified quarry complex, near Leone, American Samoa. Dunedin, NZ: University of Otago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leach, H.M., & Witter, D.C. (1987). Tataga-matau “rediscovered.” New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 9, 33–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leach, H.M., & Witter, D.C. (1990) Further investigations at the Tataga-matau site, American Samoa. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 12, 51–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lebo, S.A., & Johnson, K.T.M. (2007) Geochemical sourcing of rock specimens and stone artifacts from Nihoa and Necker Islands, Hawai’i. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34, 858–871.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lunblad, S.P., Mills, P.R., & Hon, K. (2008) Analysing archaeological basalt using non-destructive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF): effects of post-depositional chemical weathering and sample size on analytical precision. Archaeometry, 50, 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, G.A. (1944) Petrography of the Samoan Islands. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 55, 1333–1362.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonald, G.A. (1968) Contribution to the petrology of Tutuila, American Samoa. Geologische Rundschau, 57, 821–837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacDougall, I. (1985) Age and evolution of the volcanoes of Tutuila, American Samoa. Pacific Science, 39, 311–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, P.R., Lunblad, S.P., Smith, J.G., McCoy, P.C., & Naleimaile, S.P. (2008) Science and sensitivity: a geochemical characterization of the Mauna Kea adze quarry complex, Hawai’i Island, Hawaii. American Antiquity, 73, 743–758.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, J.R., Kennedy, J. (1996). Archaeological Resources on Lau’agae Ridge: A Phase II Cultural Resource Evaluation of Site AS-21-100 (The Lau’agae Ridge Quarry) for Phase III of the Onenoa Road Project Located in East Vaifanua County, Tutuila Island, American Samoa March 1996. Archaeological Consultants of Hawaii, Inc., Pago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Natland, J.H. (1980) The progression of volcanism in the Samoan linear volcanic chain. American Journal of Science, 280, 709–735.

    Google Scholar 

  • Natland, J. (2003) The Samoan Chain: A Shallow Lithospheric Fracture System, http://www.mantleplumes.org/Samoa.html

  • Neff, H. (2000) Neutron activation analysis for provenance determination in archaeology. In J.D. Winefordner (Ed.), Chemical analysis: a series of monographs on analytical chemistry and its applications (pp. 81–127). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, R., & Sheppard, P.J. (1997) Pacific island adze geochemistry studies at the University of Auckland. In M.I. Weisler (Ed.), Prehistoric long-distance interaction in Oceania: an interdisciplinary approach (pp. 205–211). Auckland: New Zealand Archaeological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rolett, B.V., Conte, E., Pearthree, E.J., & Sinton M. (1997) Marquesan voyaging: archaeometric evidence for inter-island contact. In M.I. Weisler (Ed.), Prehistoric long-distance interaction in Oceania: an interdisciplinary approach (pp. 134–148). Auckland: New Zealand Archaeological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shackley, M.S. (1998a). Gamma rays, x-rays and stone tools: some recent advances in archaeological geochemistry. Journal of Archaeological Science, 25, 259–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shackley, M.S. (1998b) Current issues and future directions in archaeological volcanic glass studies: an introduction. In M.S. Shackley (Ed.), Archaeological obsidian studies: method and theory (pp. 1–12). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard, P.J., Walter, R., & Parker, R. (1997) Basalt sourcing and the development of Cook Island exchange systems. In M.I. Weisler (Ed.), Prehistoric long-distance interaction in Oceania: an interdisciplinary approach (pp. 205–211). Auckland: New Zealand Archaeological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearns, H.T. (1944) Geology of the Samoan Islands. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, 55, 1279–1332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I. (1990) A technological, petrographic, and geochemical analysis of the Kapohaku adze quarry, Lana’i, Hawaiian Islands. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 12, 29–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I. (1993a) Chemical characterization and provenance of Manu’a adz material using non-destructive x-ray fluorescence technique. In P.V. Kirch, T.L. Hunt (Eds.), The To’aga site: three millennia of Polynesian occupation in the Manu’a islands, American Samoa (pp. 167–187). Berkeley: University of California Archaeological Research Facility.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I. (1993b) Provenance studies of Polynesian basalt adze material: a review and suggestions for improving regional databases. Asian Perspectives, 32, 61–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I. (1997) Prehistoric long distance interaction at the margins of Polynesia. In M.I. Weisler (Ed.), Prehistoric long-distance interaction in Oceania: an interdisciplinary approach (pp. 149–172). Auckland: New Zealand Archaeological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I. (1998) Hard evidence for prehistoric interaction in Polynesia. Current Anthropology, 39, 521–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I. (2002) Centrality and collapse of long-distance voyaging in East Polynesia. In M. Glascock (Ed.), Geochemical evidence for long distance exchange (pp. 257–273).Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I. (2003) A stone tool basalt source on ‘Ata southern Tonga. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology, 25, 113–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I., & Kirch, P.V. (1996) Interisland and interarchipelago transfer of stone tools in prehistoric Polynesia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 93, 138–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I., & Sinton, J.M. (1997) Towards identifying prehistoric interaction systems in Polynesia. In M.I. Weisler (Ed.), Prehistoric long-distance interaction in Oceania: an interdisciplinary approach (pp. 173–193). Auckland: New Zealand Archaeological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I., & Woodhead, J.D. (1995) Basalt Pb isotope analysis and the prehistoric settlement of Polynesia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A, 92, 1881–1885.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisler, M.I., Kirch, P.V., & Endicott, J.M. (1994) The Mata’are basalt source: implications for prehistoric interaction studies in the Cook Islands. Journal of the Polynesian Society, 103, 203–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winterhoff, E.Q. (2007) The political economy of ancient Samoa: basalt adze production and linkages to the social status. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Eugene: University of Oregon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winterhoff, E.Q., Wozniak, J.A., Ayres, W.S., & Lash, E. (2007) Intra-island source variability on Tutuila, American Samoa and prehistoric basalt adze exchange in Western Polynesia-Island Melanesia. Archaeology in Oceania, 42(2), 65–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, ELIZABETH (1986). PETROLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF SHIELD-BUILDING AND POST-EROSIONAL LAVA SERIES OF SAMOA: IMPLICATIONS FOR MANTLE HETEROGENEITY AND MAGMA GENESIS (OCEAN ISLAND, VOLCANO, ULTRAMAFIC XENOLITH). Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Diego, United States -- California.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Field sampling and research for this project were conducted partially through funding from the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office and the Texas A&M Office of the Vice President for Research. I would first like to thank Dr. William D. James, Director of the EAL at Texas A&M University, for his advice and support and for allowing access to the facilities of the EAL without which this research would not have been possible. I am deeply grateful for the guidance and encouragement of Dr. Peter Mills and Dr. Steve Lunblad from the University of Hawaii at Hilo who shared their EDXRF method and experience analyzing Polynesia basalt artifacts and sources, which lead directly to the calibration of the EDXRF method employed for this project at the Texas A&M EAL. Also, the advice and assistance of Dr. Suzanne L. Eckert was instrumental in the inception and completion of this project. Finally, I need to thank Michael Raulerson, David Foxe, and Daniel Welch for their assistance in the preparation of samples for EDXRF analysis. As always fa’afetai tele to the wonderful people of Tutuila.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-4352, USA

    Phillip R. Johnson

Authors
  1. Phillip R. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Phillip R. Johnson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Kroeber Hall 232, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    M. Steven Shackley

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Johnson, P.R. (2011). Elemental Analysis of Fine-Grained Basalt Sources from the Samoan Island of Tutuila: Applications of Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) Toward an Intra-Island Provenance Study. In: Shackley, M. (eds) X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarchaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6886-9_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation