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Open-Cell Ablation of Killke and Inka Pottery from the Cuzco Area: Museum Collections as Repositories of Provenience Information

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Recent Advances in Laser Ablation ICP-MS for Archaeology

Part of the book series: Natural Science in Archaeology ((ARCHAEOLOGY))

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Abstract

Museum collections are often invaluable repositories of information for archaeologists, as they contain large numbers of intact, well provenanced objects. However, the utility of such collections for chemical analysis is often limited by the inability to perform destructive analysis on them. We report here on the analysis of Killke (ad 1000–1400) and Inka (ad 1400–1532) ceramics from the Cuzco area of Peru housed in the Field Museum of Natural History South American collections using a specially modified open-cell laser to generate compositional data from complete intact vessels in a minimally destructive manner. These data are compared to measurements performed using a conventional laser cell on Killke and Inka sherds from the same collections and regional raw material samples. We discuss both the utility and shortcomings of the open-cell system as a means of ceramic analysis, as well as implications for archaeological understanding of prehistoric ceramic production and economy in the Cuzco area.

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Acknowledgments

The ICP-MS lab at the Field Museum Elemental Analysis Facility was constructed with funding from the National Science Foundation (BCS-0320903), the Museum’s Anthropology Alliance, and an anonymous donation. The open-cell laser used in this study (projects EAF047 and EAF049) was modified by Richard Cox (Université du Québec à Chicoutimi) and purchased with funding from the Grainger Foundation. Analysis was funded by NSF Archaeometry Grant BCS-0726651. Many thanks to Laure Dussubieux and Brian Bauer for their assistance, and to two anonymous reviewers for an abundance of useful comments on an earlier draft. All remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, 621 Flanner Hall, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA

    Mark Golitko

  2. Department of Anthropology, Georgia State University, 33 Gilmer Street, Suite 335, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA

    Nicola Sharratt

  3. Integrative Research Center, Social Sciences, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, 60605, USA

    Patrick Ryan Williams

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  1. Mark Golitko
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  2. Nicola Sharratt
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  3. Patrick Ryan Williams
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Correspondence to Mark Golitko .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Integrative Research Center, Elemental Analysis Facility, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Laure Dussubieux

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA

    Mark Golitko

  3. Institut de Recherche sur les Archéomatériaux Centre Ernest Babelon, CNRS/Université d’Orléans, Orléans, France

    Bernard Gratuze

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Golitko, M., Sharratt, N., Williams, P.R. (2016). Open-Cell Ablation of Killke and Inka Pottery from the Cuzco Area: Museum Collections as Repositories of Provenience Information. In: Dussubieux, L., Golitko, M., Gratuze, B. (eds) Recent Advances in Laser Ablation ICP-MS for Archaeology. Natural Science in Archaeology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49894-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-49894-1_3

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