8. Ceramic Compositional Analysis

Mark Lynott (Midwest Archeological Center), Michael Glasscock and Hector Neff (Missouri University Research Reactor) have initiated a ceramic compositional study aimed at southern Ohio. The study will compare the elemental composition of samples of geological clay with Hopewell ceramics. The staff at the Missouri University Research Reactor will radiate both geological clay samples and prehistoric Hopewell ceramic sherds in the nuclear research reactor, and compare the amounts of selected elements in each sample.

The data, while somewhat complicated to interpret, yields an fingerprint of variations in specific elements. This technique is proving quite successful in research in the Eastern Ozark region of southeast Missouri, and likely to be helpful in sorting out many of the questions that have been raised about Hopewell settlement systems and the movement of people and pots associated with the Hopewell sites in southern Ohio. If you have specific samples of Hopewell ceramics or geological clays from southern Ohio that you would like to include in this study, you are encouraged to contact Mark Lynott.