The demise of a monopoly: Implications of geochemical characterisation of a stemmed obsidian tool from the Bishop Museum collections

Mulrooney, Mara; Torrence, Robin; McAlister, Andrew

doi:10.1002/arco.5069

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…To match artifacts to a source, we compared our data with published source data in the western Pacific region (Bird et al, 1997;Reepmeyer, 2008Reepmeyer, , 2009Golitko et al, 2012;Sheppard et al, 2010;Burley et al, 2011;Constantine et al, 2015;Mulrooney et al, 2016). Of the 573 artifacts analyzed, one (TOSP-047) returned very low trace element concentrations, suggesting it is a chert; it was excluded from our analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Obsidian and volcanic glass artifact evidence for long-distance voyaging to the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia

McCoy

Cervera

Mulrooney³

et al. 2020

Quat. res.

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Reconstructing routes of ancient long-distance voyaging, long a topic of speculation, has become possible thanks to advances in the geochemical sourcing of archaeological artifacts. Of particular interest are islands classified as Polynesian Outliers, where people speak Polynesian languages and have distinctly Polynesian cultural traits, but are located within the Melanesian or Micronesian cultural areas. While the classification of these groups as Polynesian is not in dispute, the material evidence for the movement between Polynesia and the Polynesian Outliers is exceedingly rare, unconfirmed, and in most cases, nonexistent. We report on the first comprehensive sourcing (using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer) of obsidian and volcanic glass artifacts recovered from excavations on the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia. We find evidence for: (1) initial settlement followed by continued voyages between Tikopia and an island Melanesian homeland; (2) long-distance voyaging becoming much less frequent and continuing to decline; and (3) later voyaging from Polynesia marked by imports of volcanic glass from Tonga beginning at 765 cal yr BP (±54 yr). Later long-distance voyages from Polynesia were surprisingly rare, given the strong cultural and linguistic influences of Polynesia, and we suggest, may indicate that Tikopia was targeted by Tongans for political expansion.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Obsidian and volcanic glass artifact evidence for long-distance voyaging to the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia

McCoy

Cervera

Mulrooney³

et al. 2020

Quat. res.

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“…; Mulrooney et al . ). As other researchers have stressed, appropriate groupings should be determined on a case‐by‐case basis and informed by both the geology of the region under study and the nature of the questions being examined (Nazaroff et al .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

On provenance studies of New Zealand obsidians: A pXRF‐based geochemical reference dataset and a review of analytical methods

McAlister

2019

Archaeology in Oceania

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Since the introduction of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) technology to obsidian provenance research, the volume of published studies has increased exponentially. This proliferation of data creates unprecedented analytic opportunities for the development of higher level archaeological theory but, at the same time, presents methodological challenges. Here, it is argued that rigorous analytic procedures are required to keep pXRF-based provenance studies in line with the best scientific practice; specifically, the generation of accurate compositional data, the compilation of comprehensive reference databases for robust source characterisation and the development of appropriate methods for artefact assignment are essential components of a reliable protocol. To these ends, a reference dataset for New Zealand obsidians containing over 1500 samples is reported in this paper, previous source assignment methods are reviewed and a selection of multivariate approaches are evaluated. RÉSUMÉLesétudes de provenance des artefacts en obsidienne se sont développées de manière exponentielle avec l'introduction de la spectrométrie portable XRF (pXRF). Cette profusion de données crée des opportunités analytiques sans précédent qui permettent d'importants développements théoriques, mais présenteégalement des défis méthodologiques. Nous montrons ici qu'il est crucial de mettre en place et d'utiliser des procédures analytiques rigoureuses afin de conserver la qualité desétudes de provenance basées sur le pXRF. La fiabilité des protocoles est notamment liéeà la précision des données de composition, la compilation de bases de données de référence complètes pour une caractérisation robuste des sources, et le développement de méthodes appropriées qui permettent l'attribution de source pour chaque artefact. Dans cet objectif, cet article présente un ensemble de données de référence pour les obsidiennes de Nouvelle-Zélande contenant plus de 1500échantillons, et propose uneévaluation critique des méthodes d'attribution des sources ainsi que de plusieurs approches statistiques multivariées couramment utilisées dans lesétudes de provenance.

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“…In addition, constraints on the selection of samples due to artefact size have been lessoned considerably, thereby greatly reducing potential sampling biases (e.g. Torrence et al 2013;Mialanes et al 2016;Mulrooney et al 2014Mulrooney et al , 2016. It is now feasible to analyse large numbers or even entire archaeological assemblages (e.g.…”

Section: Detecting Exchangementioning

confidence: 99%

Landscapes of exchange in the Willaumez Peninsula, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Bonnat,

Torrence,

White

2024

Forty Years in the South Seas: Archaeological Perspectives on the Human History of Papua New Guinea and the Western Pacific Reg

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The well-preserved tephrostratigraphy stretching across the Willaumez Peninsula in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea, provides a unique opportunity to monitor landscapes of cultural exchange over a considerable period of human history, extending from the Pleistocene to the recent past. An approach integrating pXRF geochemical characterisation and measurements of reduction intensity is used to analyse a substantial sample of obsidian artefacts from the FRI site and 25 test pits in the Isthmus region, located at the base of the Willaumez Peninsula. Obsidian exchange is shown to have been a persistent feature of social life, but variations in the mix of sources used and the kinds of objects transferred may also indicate changes in how social networks were constructed. As the frequency and severity of volcanic events decreased through time and population rose in response, the role of obsidian in creating links may have been partially replaced by other objects, such as stone axe blades.

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The demise of a monopoly: Implications of geochemical characterisation of a stemmed obsidian tool from the Bishop Museum collections

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

Obsidian and volcanic glass artifact evidence for long-distance voyaging to the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia

Obsidian and volcanic glass artifact evidence for long-distance voyaging to the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia

On provenance studies of New Zealand obsidians: A pXRF‐based geochemical reference dataset and a review of analytical methods

Landscapes of exchange in the Willaumez Peninsula, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea

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