Interpreting Bronze Age Exchange in Sicily Through Trace Element
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 3-31-2015 Interpreting Bronze Age Exchange in Sicily through Trace Element Characterization of Ceramics Utilizing Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) Erin Marie Mckendry University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Scholar Commons Citation Mckendry, Erin Marie, "Interpreting Bronze Age Exchange in Sicily through Trace Element Characterization of Ceramics Utilizing Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF)" (2015). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5535 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Interpreting Bronze Age Exchange in Sicily through Trace Element Characterization of Ceramics Utilizing Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) by Erin M. Mckendry A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeological and Forensic Sciences College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Robert H. Tykot, Ph.D. Nancy Marie White, Ph.D. Lorena Madrigal, Ph.D. Date of Approval: March 31, 2015 Keywords: Early Bronze Age, Mediterranean archaeology, archaeometry, trade networks Copyright © 2015, Erin M. Mckendry DEDICATION This research paper is dedicated to Christina Watt. The humor, strength and grace with which she approaches life continue to inspire me year after year. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Robert Tykot, Dr. Andrea Vianello, Dr. Davide Tanasi, Dr. Beatrice Basile and Dr. Anita Crispino for their assistance and support in conducting this research. Dr. Beatrice Basile was the director of The Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi in Siracusa and Dr. Anita Crispino was the curator of prehistoric antiquities. Both Dr. Basile and Dr. Crispino granted permission and access to the museum samples in order to conduct non- destructive elemental analysis on site for the purposes of my research. Dr. Andrea Vianello served as a vital coordinator between the museum and myself in obtaining research samples. He has been a fount of information and assistance throughout the entirety of this research. Dr. Davide Tanasi of the Arcadia University, Siracusa, Italy, granted permission to conduct analysis on all samples he selected and provided from his Ognina Islet and Poggio Biddini collections. Dr. Robert Tykot is my academic advisor and graciously allowed access to his equipment in order to conduct my research without which it would not have been possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER TWO : BACKGROUND .............................................................................................. 6 Neolithic .............................................................................................................................. 6 Early Bronze Age ................................................................................................................ 9 Settlements ........................................................................................................................ 9 Burials .............................................................................................................................. 12 Subsistence and Craft Production ................................................................................ 15 Pottery .............................................................................................................................. 16 Metal ................................................................................................................................ 20 Middle Bronze Age Changes ............................................................................................ 20 Pottery .............................................................................................................................. 22 Metal ................................................................................................................................ 27 CHAPTER THREE : THEORY AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH ................................................ 28 Theory ............................................................................................................................... 28 Previous Research ............................................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER FOUR : ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND RESEARCH METHODS .................. 38 Sites ................................................................................................................................... 38 Methods............................................................................................................................. 41 CHAPTER FIVE : CERAMIC ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ............................................... 47 Supplemental Consistency Analysis ................................................................................. 47 Analysis of All Samples.................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER SIX : CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 74 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................... 81 APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................... 91 Museum Sample Photos .................................................................................................... 91 Ognina Islet and Poggio Biddini Sample Photos ............................................................ 106 i LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi samples……………………………42 Table 2: Samples provided by Davide Tanasi - stored at USF Laboratory for Archaeological Science………………………………………………………….43 Table 3: Results of supplemental analyses compared, sample Og12_49-11…………….. 48 Table 4: Results of supplemental analyses compared, sample Og12_67-32…………….. 49 Table 5: Results of supplemental analyses compared, sample PB_12-10……………….. 50 Table 6: Results of supplemental analyses compared, sample PB_12-6………………… 51 Table 7: Total Variance Explained for all samples and elements………………………... 54 Table 8: Component Matrix for all samples and elements, thorium (Th) variable highlighted……………………………………………………………………… 54 Table 9: Component matrix for all samples with thorium removed from factoring analysis.................................................................................................................. 56 Table 10: Component matrix table for remaining 76 samples and all trace elements, strontium (Sr) variable highlighted…...…………………………………............ 61 Table 11: Total variance explained for remaining 76 samples and five trace elements (Nb, Zr, Y, Th, Rb) …………………………………………………………….. 61 Table 12: Component Matrix for remaining 76 samples and five trace elements (Nb, Zr, Y, Th, Rb) ...................................................................................................... 62 Table 13: Component matrix for Early Bronze and Neolithic samples with all six trace elements, strontium (Sr) variable highlighted ............................................. 67 Table 14: Total variance explained for 28 Early Bronze Age samples and five trace elements (Nb, Zr, Y, Th, Rb) ............................................................................... 67 Table 15: Component matrix for 28 Early Bronze Age samples and five trace elements (Nb, Zr, Y, Th, Rb) ............................................................................... 68 ii Table 16: Total variance explained for 48 Middle Bronze Age samples with all trace elements ............................................................................................................... 70 Table 17: Component matrix for 48 Middle Bronze Age samples with all trace elements ............................................................................................................... 71 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Chronology of Sicily discussed in the text with corresponding Aegean periods, adapted from Alberti (2013) ..................................................................... 2 Figure 2: Sicily in relation to Italy, the Aegean and Malta, location of archaeological sites within Sicily circled ............................................................... 4 Figure 3: Locations of archaeological sites in southern Sicily where study samples originate ................................................................................................................