Society for American Archaeology

Determination of the Provenience of Majolica Pottery Found in the Caribbean Area Using Its Gamma-Ray Induced Thermoluminescence Author(s): J. Eduardo Vaz and Jose M. Cruxent Source: American Antiquity, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Jan., 1975), pp. 71-82 Published by: Society for American Archaeology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/279270 . Accessed: 23/04/2011 19:54
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REPORTS summer field seasons as part of a National Science Foundation sponsored (Grant GS 29232) research project. I directed the field research. University of Kansas excavated a portion of the Fischer-Gabbert site in 1970. Alfred E. Johnson, in charge of the FischerGabbert excavation, graciously loaned the FischerGabbert projectile points discussed in this paper. Stan A. Ahler critically reviewed a draft of this paper. While his comments were pertinent, the author assumes full responsibility for any errors of presentation or oversights. Ahler, S. A. 1970 Projectile point form and function at Rodgers Shelter, Missouri. Missouri A rchaeological Society Research Series 8. Binford, L. R. 1963 A proposed attribute list for the description and classification of projectile points. Miscellaneous studies in typology and classification. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Anthropological Papers 19. Calabrese, F. A. 1972 Cross Ranch: a study of variability in a stable cultural tradition. Plains Anthropologist, Memoir 9(pt. 2):17-58. Chapman, C. H. 1968 The Havana Tradition and the Hopewell problem in the Lower Missouri River Valley. Manuscript, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia. Cooley, W. W., and P. R. Lohnes 1971 Multivariate data analysis. Wiley, New York. Deetz, J. 1968 The inference of residence and descent rules from archeological data. New perspectives in

71

archeology, edited by L. R. Binford and S. R. Binford, pp. 4148. Aldine, Chicago. Heldman, D. P. 1963 A study of the nature and degree of cultural relationships of Missouri to Illinois Valley Hopewell. M.A. thesis. Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia. Kay, M. 1972 Spatial dimensions of the Imhoff site. M.A. thesis. Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri-Columbia. Rummel, R. J. 1970 Applied factor analysis. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, IL. Struever, S. 1964 The Hopewell interaction sphere in riverinewestern Great Lakes culture history. Hopewellian studies. Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers 12. 1965 Middle Woodland culture history in the Great Lakes riverine area. American Antiquity 31:211-223. Veldman, D. J. 1967 Fortran programming for the social sciences. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. Ward, J. H., Jr. 1963 Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. American Statistical Association Journal 58:236-244. Wilmsen, E. N. 1973 Interaction, spacing behavior, and the organization of hunting bands. Journal of Anthropological Research 29(1): 1-31.

DETERMINATION OF THE PROVENIENCE OF MAJOLICA POTTERY FOUND IN THE CARIBBEAN AREA USING ITS GAMMA-RAY INDUCED THERMOLUMINESCENCE
J. EDUARDO VAZ JOSE M. CRUXENT The gamma-ray induced thermoluminescence of specimens of majolica pottery of known origin, and of specimens of majolica of unknown origin collected in the Caribbean area was analyzed to determine if thermoluminescence could be used as an indicator of the provenience of pottery found in an archaeological context. The results of the measurements show that the shape of the gamma-ray induced thermoluminescence glow-curve of the clay matrix of majolica is specific to the geographic locality where the pottery was made, and that the provenience of specimens found archaeologically can be determined on the basis of their thermoluminescence glow-curves, when the curves obtained from the samples with known origins are used as references.

In the New World, there are numerous archaeological sites of the Conquest and Colonial periods where European and American majolica pottery is found coexisting with indigenous pottery. The study of this type of pottery is of great importance to the archae-

ologist because it helps to date the site where it is found, and it provides information on the trade and cultural levels of the communities at the time of the Conquest; in addition, it offers a potentially valuable tool to date indigenous archaeological sites, and Indian ceramic styles.

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Majolica pottery is a porous pottery of soft paste with a hard covering of opaque, vitreous material. It was wheel-thrown in Europe from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, and in several places in the New World after the Conquest. Goggin (1968) established the main types of majolica found in the Southeastern United States, and in the Caribbean area. In the years prior to his work the identification of majolica was very difficult because this type of ceramics had only been studied from the point of view of the art historian; studies had been made of many valuable, complete or slightly fragmented specimens, but the sherds of everyday ware which are found archaeologically throughout the Americas had not been systematically investigated. In archaeological studies of this type of pottery, one of the main problems is the determination of the locality where the specimens were made, because majolica was a commercial export. This problem is complicated even further by the duplication of styles among the potters, and by the emigration of artisans from one country to another, where they carried on their work using the same styles and techniques of their native land. These factors made it possible for the archaeologist to give only a tentative guess concerning the provenience of a specimen of majolica. In an attempt to obtain more definitive answers to the questions relating to the origin of the different types of majolica pottery, we have analyzed the thermoluminescent emission induced by gamma-ray irradiation in samples of majolica of known, and unknown origin to determine if their artifically-induced thermoluminescence (TL) could be used as an indicator of provenience. Neutron activation analysis (Perlman and Asaro 1969), and optical spectroscopy (Catling 1961) have been used previously to determine the provenience of other kinds of pottery. Thermoluminescence (TL) is the transient luminescent emission produced by most minerals when heated to temperatures below red-heat. TL represents the release of energy acquired by absorption from nuclear radiation which has been stored in the crystal lattice of the minerals as trapped charges (electrons and holes). When the irradiated crystal is heated to a few hundred degrees Celsius, the trapped electrons escape from the traps and may recom-

bine with holes with the emission of light. It has been used previously (Winter 1971) for dating ancient ceramics because some of the minerals found in the clay matrix of the sherds serve as TL dosimeters of the natural radiation produced by the decay of radioactive impurities contained in their crystal lattices. The TL measurements presented in this study were carried out in the clay matrix of majolica pottery of known origin manufactured in several pottery manufacturing centers of Europe and Mexico to determine if their gamma-ray induced TL allowed distinction between the different places of origin. Similar measurements were performed on samples of majolica of undetermined origin that had been found archaeologically in the Caribbean area to check the validity of the method as an indicator of the provenience of the samples. The TL "signature" of each one of the pottery manufacturing centers was used as reference glowcurve to distinguish or relate majolica of unknown origin found in an archaeological context. The description of the all of the samples studied is presented in Tables 1 and 2. EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS The vitreous covering of the potsherds was removed with a diamond saw, and the clay matrix of the sherds was ground and sieved. The 74-177 ,im fraction of the sieved material was used for the TL measurements. Portions of the samples were irradiated with gamma rays until their TL output reached saturation in a Cesium-137 source that produced 5 X 104 Roentgens per hour. After irradiation, the samples were kept in the dark at room temperature for 48 hr to allow the low-temperature glow-curve peak to stablilize. The artificiallyinduced TL of 18-mg aliquots of the material was measured in a nitrogen atmosphere with a Harshaw TL Analyzer Model 2000 fitted with an S-11 response photomultiplier. The samples were heated linearly from room temperature to 500?C at 10?C per second, and the photomultiplier current output was integrated throughout this temperature range. The output of the picoammeter was fed to an analog to digital converter, and the digitized output of the ADC was fed in turn to a Hewlett-Packard Multichannel Analyzer Model 5401A. The data from the multichannel analyzer was plotted in a Hewlett-Packard x-y Recorder Model 7004A,

REPORTS

73

and printed in a Hewlett Packard Digital Recorder Model 5050B for future use in a

computer. The reproducibility of the measurements is within ?5%.

Table 1. Majolica pottery with known places of origin. Peak Temperature (?C) 150, 200, 320 Glow-Curve Area (nC) 8.8 4.6 6.3 6.1 19 3 6.5 9 5.2 6.2 6 9.6 3.5 10.6 4.5 12.9 3.6 3.5 3.6 4.5 6.2 5 6.3 7.3 3 4.3 3.9 2.2 6 12 12 10.6 5.1 4.6 2.56 3.7 3.44 3.6 10.6 9.3 11.4 9.7 9.8 10.5 7.4 10.4 5.8 8 4.9 7.3 16 8.6 11.2 34.6 Peak Intensity Ratio** a) 1.6; b) 2.3 a) 1.4; b) 2.4 a) 1.2; b) 2.2 a) 1.1;b) 1.7 a) 1.4; b) 1.7 a) 1 ;b) 1.8 a) 1.6; b) 2 a) 1.2; b) 2.4 a) 1.2;b) 3.1 a) 1.4; b) 2.3 a) 1.6; b) 2.8 a) 1.6;b) 2.3 a) 1.4;b) 2.8 a) 1.4;b) 2.4 a) 0.9; b) 2 a) 1.7; b) 2.6 a) 1.1; b) 2.6 a) 1.2; b) 2.1 a) 1.3;b) 2.3 a) 1.6; b) 2.8 a) 1.4; b) 2 a) 0.7; b) 0.8 a) 0.5;b) 1 a) 0.7; b) 1 a) 0.7; b) 0.9 a) 0.7; b) 0.9 a) 0.8; b) 0.9 a) 1 ;b) a) 0.4; b) 1.1 a) 1.6; b) 1.8 a) 3.8; b) 1.8 a) 2.5;b) 1.5 a) 1.5; b) 1.7 a) 2 ;b) 1.9 a) 0.8; b) 1.5 a) 0.8; b) 1.3 a) 0.9; b) 1.5 a) 0.9; b) 1.3 a) 0.7 a) 0.6 a) 0.6 a) 0.6 a) 0.5 a) 0.9 a) 0.5 a) 0.6 a) 0.9 a) 0.7 a) 1.1; b) 1.1 a) 1 ;b) 1.1 a) 1.4; b) 1.3 a) 1 ;b) 1.1 a) 1.2; b) 1.2 a) 1.4; b) 1.2

Sample 18 19 20 27 28 31 35 36 37 38 39 41 42 43 44 56 71 73 74 85 235 7 8 9 10 12 13 48 54 3 33 34 83 89 23 32 84 88 29 30 45 47 55 77 78 79 80 82 6 24 57 58 65 66

Locality Teruel, Spain

?1 ?i

Type*

??

Albisola,Italy

Itchucknee Blue on Blue

44 . ( ..I
..1

140, 200,300

..I ..
..

.. I

..

..

.6

..

..

Catalufia, Spain ..?.

..{.

..{.

140,200, 300

Castilla,Spain .. ? It.
I .

175,330

Gouda,Holland .. ..
{?

150,200,340

74

AMERICAN ANTIQUITY Table 1. (continued) Peak Temperature (?C) 150, 200,340 " 175, 300 " " " I"
"

[Vol. 40, No. 1, 1975

Sample 68 70 59 60 237 239 240 241 242

Locality Gouda, Holland .. Puebla, Mexico

." " " " " "

Type* Fig Springs Polychrome " " " "

" "

Glow-Curve Area (nC) 10.5 9.5 1.1 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.4 0.6 0.6

Peak Intensity Ratio** a) 1.3; b) 1.2 a) 0.9;b) 1 a) 0.3 a) 0.4 a) 0.3 a) 0.2 a) 0.4 a) 0.6 a) 0.2

" "
"

"
" "

"
"

"

" " "

" " "

"
"

"

* Goggin (1968) ** a) Ratio of the high-temperature peak intensity to the middle temperature peak intensity. b) Intensity ratio between the middle-temperature peak and the low-temperature peak.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS Aliquots of four of the samples were irradiated with increasing doses of Cesium-137 gamma rays to determine the gamma-ray dose necessary to saturate the TL output of the pottery samples. As shown in Fig. 1, the TL output of the samples increases with increasing gamma-ray dose and reaches saturation at a dose of about 2 X 106 R6entgens. In all subsequent TL measurements, the samples were preirradiated with this dose of gamma rays. In order to establish the TL "signatures" of the individual pottery manufacturing centers that will serve as reference TL glow-curves to distinguish majolica made in a given locality, the gamma-gay induced TL glow-curves of samples of majolica of known origin were obtained. The TL signatures of all of the pottery manufacturing centers that could have been suppliers of majolica to the New World were not obtained because samples from every probable source were not available. In addition, we have found so far that at least one case in which the results of the TL analysis of a suite of samples suggest an origin different from that which had been assigned to them as a whole on the basis of their typological features. The results of the TL measurements performed in samples of known origin are shown in Table 1. The glow-curve peak temperatures, the peak-intensity ratios, and the area under the glow-curve of each one of these samples is presented in the table. Representative glowcurves (the TL "signature") of each of the pottery manufacturing centers studies are shown in Fig. 2.

After obtaining the TL signatures of several pottery manufacturing centers, known from chronicles and historical documents to have been major sources of pottery for the New World, the TL glow-curves of samples of majolica of unknown origin that were found archaeologically in the Caribbean area were analyzed to determine if they could be related to pottery of known origin on the basis of

c-

0 I 04

'a)

03

12

0 Cs-137

I gamma-roy

~
Roentgens)

dose (x/06

Fig. 1. Growth of the TL output of majolica pottery as a function of gamma-ray dose.

Table 2. Majolica pottery of undetermined origin found in the Caribbean area. Sample 1 21 50 51 62 134 135 136 137 139 140 142 146 150 151 166 167 168 169 170 173 175 178 178A 179 180 184 185 186 188 189 192 198B 199A Locality where found Isla del Tesoro, Panama Dominican Republic Santa Barbara,Panama Old Panama City, Panama Santa Barbara,Panama Araya, Venezuela Panama Barcelona, Venezuela Araya, Venezuela Butter Island, Panama Old Panama City, Panama La Vega, Dominican Republic Macapale, Panama Policui, Panama Panama Type* Ichtucknee Blue on Blue Panama Polychrome Peak Temperature (?C) 140,200, 300 170 Glow-curve Area (nC) 3.77 4.88 9.33 2.32 4.51 4.25 1.08 3.6 3.7 1.27 0.66 5.8 4.7 0.83 2.5 2.6 5.28 5 1.8 3.05 20.4 1.06 3.5 1.05 3.65 1.36 11.65 0.77 6.12 6.71 3.1 1.94 0.67 3.1

San Luis Polychrome Panama Polychrome Fig Springs Polychrome San Luis Polychrome Tallahassee Blue on White (?) Panama Polychrome Panama Polychrome

175, 300 170 175, 300 170 140,200,260 170

??

Maurica,Venezuela Dominican Republic Old Panama City, Panama Dominican Republic Cubagua, Venezuela Barcelona, Venezuela Old Panama City, Panama Cubagua, Venezuela Panama Dominican Republic Panama Aucilla Polychrome Panama Polychrome Panama Polychrome San Luis Blue on White CaparraBlue Fig Springs Polychrome Fig Springs Polychrome CaparraBlue Panama Polychrome Ichtucknee Blue on Blue Fig Springs Polychrome

175, 330 175, 320 170 200, 300 170 175, 300 150,200, 270 175, 300 170 140,200, 270 170 140,200,300 175, 300 150,210,320

*Goggin, 1968 **a) Ratio of the high-temperature peak intensity to the middle-temperature peak intensity. b) Ratio of the middle-temperature peak intensity to the low-temperature peak intensity.

76 10 8 -

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Gouda,sample N? 6 Castill//a, sample N? 79 Terue/, sample NE 235

IZ

4 -

......... Cataluna,sample N?88 - - -Cata/uha, sample No 83 Puebla (x/O), sample No 24/ -----A/biso/a, sample NE 12
-

0
100 200 300 400 500

(?C) Temperature
Fig. 2. Representative gamma-ray induced TL glow curves of pottery with known places of origin.

similarity between their glow-curves and the reference TL curves. The TL measurements obtained from these samples are presented in Table 2, and the glow-curves of each one of the individual samples is presented in Figs. 3-5. This data shows that, with the exception of the sample n? 150 and all of the samples of the type Panama Polychrome, the TL signatures of the other samples fall into families of curves which

are similar in shape to the reference TL curves obtained from the samples with known places of origin. DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS In the preparation of the paste used in the manufacture of majolica pottery the clay is mixed with sand. This sand temper is the major

REPORTS 6- Sample N? I 21 ....... " 50

77

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-_----Sample

N? 51 . 62

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Sample N? 139 (xlO) , 140 ..

6-

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100

200

300

400

500

Temperature (?C)
Fig. 3. Gamma-ray induced TL glow curves of majolica pottery found in the Caribbean area. The glow curves of samples nQl, and n?21 are similar to the reference TL curve of specimens made in Albisola, Italy. The glow curves of samples n?50, 51, 62, 134, 136, 137, and 142 are similar to the reference TL curve of specimens probably made in Panama. The glow curves of samples n? 135, 139, and 140 are similar to the reference TL curve of samples from Puebla, Mexico.

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Sample N? 146 I' 150 (xlO) .I I I. . 151

2-

6-

Sample N? 166 -. .. 167 -- i1 168

4 -

... X0
--

Sample N? 169 .. 170 '. , 173 (x0.5)

/
2-

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7'^......

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Sample N? 175 (x0O) " 178 A .--

500

Temperature (?C)
Fig. 4. Gamma-ray induced TL glow-curves of majolica found in the Caribbean area. The glow curves of samples n?146, 151, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, and 178A are similar to the reference glow curve of samples probably made in Panama. The glow curve of sample n?150 does not correspond with any one of the reference curves. The glow curve of sample n? 173 is similar to that of specimens made in Castilla, Spain and the curve of sample n?175 is similar to that of specimens made in Puebla, Mexico.

REPORTS

79

source of TL when the bulk material is heated after being irradiated with nuclear radiation. In addition, the TL output of the individual mineral constituents of the paste depends on their geochemical history, because the concentration of trace elements that may act as luminescent centers in the minerals (Curie 1963) shows regional variations as demonstrated by neutron activation analysis of pottery samples using gamma-ray spectrometry (Perlman and Asaro 1969). In the present study, it was reasoned that because the gamma-ray induced TL output of the minerals most commonly found in pottery is highly sensitive to impurity levels, and to the kinds of impurities in their crystal lattices, it should be possible to relate pottery of the same origin on the basis of similarity in the TL signatures. By irradiating the clay matrix of the sherd with gamma rays until its TL output is saturated, one is assured that each of the thermoluminescent mineral fractions in -the sherd is contributing fully to the total TL output of the sample. To avoid as much as possible the formation of new traps in the crystal lattices of the minerals as a result of the irradiation, low-energy gamma rays were used to induce TL in the samples. The results of the TL measurements presented earlier in Table 1 and Fig. 2 show that the assumptions discussed earlier are reasonably valid. The glow-curve measurements shown in Table 1 are, with the exception of the area under the glow curve, similar within relatively narrow limits in the samples from the same locality of manufacture. However, as shown in the same table and in Fig. 2, the glow curves are substantially different in majolica manufactured in different localities. It should be pointed out that the variation in the measurements of the area under the glow curve is due mainly to changes in the relative amounts of temper and clay that were used at the time the pottery was made. This is more clearly shown in Fig. 6 where the glow curves obtained from the bulk sample of a sherd, and from its quartz fraction only are presented. The curves show that the TL output of the clay matrix of this sherd is due almost totally to the amount of quartz temper contained in the pottery. Furthermore, comparison of the measurements of the area under each of the two glow curves in Fig. 6 indicates that the paste contains less than 10% quartz by volume if self-absorption of

the TL by the samples is not taken into consideration. As will be shown later, the area under the glow curves is, in most cases, of relatively little diagnostic value as an indicator of provenience. However, these measurements are presented in this paper together with the more relevant TL data because it may be of use in future studies of this kind to distinguish pottery which, although manufactured in different regions, give the same TL signature. This condition is entirely possible because one is dealing with relative intensity ratios of a small number of peaks in each glow curve. However, even in cases where the TL analysis may give ambiguous results it can still aid the archaeologist in choosing the most likely place of origin out of several potential localities, if it is used together with other diagnostic archaeological evidence of probable origin. The TL data obtained from samples of known origin shows that the shape of the gamma-ray induced TL glow-curve is specific to the pottery manufacturing centers that were studied. It indicates that the same source of raw materials was used in the manufacture of majolica in each of the localities studied; this is more evident in the results obtained from the samples made in Teruel, Spain, which although they range in age from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, give the same TL signature. These findings suggested that the provenience of specimens of majolica pottery found in archaeological sites in the Americas could be determined from their TL signatures if the glow curves of the samples of known origin are used as reference TL curves. To determine if this was feasible, the gamma-ray induced TL of 34 samples of majolica of undetermined origin that were found in the Caribbean area was analyzed. The results of the TL measurements are presented in Table 2, and Figs. 3, 4 and 5. It is evident from the data shown in the table and in the figures, that the TL glow-curves obtained from the samples of undetermined origin are, with the exception of the samples of Panama Polychrome and sample n?150, similar to the TL signatures obtained from the specimens of majolica of known origin. On the basis of this similarity, the provenience of the samples from the Caribbean area was determined as shown in Table 2. In the majority of the cases, the provenience of the sample determined with the TL method agreed very well with their archaeological

80 6

AMERICAN ANTIQUITY SampleN? 178 (x10) .. 179 . 180 . ... (x10)

[Vol. 40, No. 1, 1975

.-

----

SampleN? 184
-'1. 165 (xl0) 186

u~* 2 6-.-? Sample N? 188 .189 (x2) ,, 192 (x5)

\ '\ \ .-V,

. 1\\

4-

2- -

.--

Sample N? 198 B (xl0) . " 199 A (x 2)

4-

2-

'

100

200

300

400

1I00

200

300

500

400

500

Temperature (?C)

Fig. 5. Gamma-ray induced TL glow-curves of majolica found in the Caribbean area. The curves of samples n?178, 180, 185, and 198B are similar to the reference TL curve of samples made in Puebla, Mexico. The glow curves of samples n? 179, 186, and 189 are similar to the reference TL glow curves of samples probably made in Panama. Those of samples n?184 and 188 are similar to the reference glow curves of Catalufia, Spain, and the glow curve of sample n? 192 is similar to that of samples made in Albisola, Italy.

REPORTS 14-

81

12 -

Quartzfraction only (xl),14.2upC - Whole sample (xlO), 1I.II uC

10I

/2

/ /

\ \

c
cI

66-

4-

s,/

2-

100

200

300

400

500

Temperature (?C)
Fig. 6. Glow curves obtained from the bulk sample of a sherd, and from the separated quartz fraction of the same pottery sample. Note that the glow curve of the bulk sample has been expanded in the figure by a factor of 10. Both glow curves have essentially the same shape.

classification. On the other hand, the origin that had been assigned to majolica of the type Panama Polychrome on the basis of style and decorative elements was not in accord with the TL analysis. This type of majolica has been thought to be originally from Teruel, Spain, because of its similarity in style to the classic majolica pottery made in that locality of Spain. However, the TL curves of Panama Polychrome are clearly different from those obtained from pottery made in Teruel (compare Fig. 2 with Fig 4). In fact, the TL curve of Panama Polychrome does not even resemble the glow curves of any of its European counterparts that were studied. It resembles the glow curves of the samples from Puebla, Mexico, except for the presence of a single peak of greater intensity than the TL output of the Mexican samples. Furthermore, the macroanalysis of these samples suggests that they are not European in origin as believed. It seems more likely that these specimens were made in Panama, or in another locality in the Americas.

Panama is tentatively suggested as their place of origin. On the other hand, the provenience of the sample n?150 could not be determined at this time from its TL signature. Stylistically, sample n?150 belongs to a type of majolica that was made in some locality in Italy other than Albisola. Although the results of the TL analysis tend to confirm the archaeological evidence, it is not possible at this time to determine where was it made because only Italian specimens known to have been made in Albisola have been analyzed to date. However, the TL signature of this sample indicates that it was not made in Albisola, or in any one of the other localities studied. CONCLUSIONS Analysis of the TL induced by gamma-ray irradiation in majolica pottery shows that its glow curve appears to be characteristic of the locality where the specimen was made, and that the provenience of majolica found archaeolog-

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ically can be determined from their gamma-ray induced TL glow-curves when the TL curves obtained from samples of known origin are used as references. It would be possible in principle to apply this method to the determination of provenience in other types of pottery. This would require a systematic study of the artificially-induced TL characteristics of the principal types of pottery of archaeological interest. The TL analysis described here takes relatively little time to carry out. The irradiation and the subsequent rest period of the samples to allow the low temperature peaks to stabilize takes the longest time. However, this time can be shortened by using more powerful gammaray sources. Analysis of the TL data is facilitated because it is presented in a single curve; however, the use of digitized data and equipment with memory facilities have been found to be very useful in comparing the glow curves of samples in which the intensity of the

glow may vary within two orders of magnitude by allowing the curves to be presented graphically with the same proportions.
Acknowledgments. Thanks are due to Victor Betancourt for his assistance in the preparation of the samples. Catling, H. W. 1961 Spectrographic analysis of Micenean and Minoan pottery. Archaeometry 4:31-38. Curie, D. 1963 Luminescence in crystals, translated by G. F. J. Garlick. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Goggin, J. M. 1968 Spanish majolica in the New World. Yale University, Publications in Anthropology 72. Perlman, I., and F. Asaro 1969 Pottery analysis by neutron activation. Archaeometry 11:21. Winter, J. 1971 Thermoluminescent dating of pottery. In Dating techniques for the archaeologist, edited by H. N. Michael and E. K. Ralph, pp. 118-151. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

DATING PAIUTE-SHOSHONI EXPANSION IN THE GREAT BASIN DAVID B. MADSEN

Corroboration of linguistic evidence for the northward expansion of Numic speakers from the southwestern Great Basin around A.D. 1000 is provided by the dating of Paiute-Shoshoni pottery. At eight stratified eastern Great Basin sites, this distinctive pottery is associated with Anasazi and/or Fremont ceramics, supporting the hypothesis that competition with Numic speaking groups was partially responsible for the disappearance of the Fremont culture.

The origin and dispersion of Numic speaking peoples in the Great Basin is both an archaeological and linguistic problem. The archaeological controversy for the eastern Basin is discussed extensively elsewhere (Aikens 1966, 1970; Euler 1964), but consists essentially of whether or not Paiute-Shoshoni groups replaced, displaced or were derived from the Fremont culture. The latter view is currently out of favor, but it is uncertain whether Shoshonian groups entered the area after Fremont abandonment of the region, or, as suggested by Euler (1964) and Aikens (1970), helped displace established Fremont groups. Linguistically, Numic speaking groups are thought to have spread out of the southwestern Great Basin around 1000 yr ago (Fowler 1972;

Goss 1964, 1968; Lamb 1958; Miller 1966; Miller, Tanner, and Folly 1971). This linguistic evidence has received little or no archaeological corroboration. Recent excavations in the eastern Great Basin cast new light on the archaeological problems and provide confirmation of the linguistic evidence. Most of these new data are derived from the identification and dating of one of the hallmarks of Numic speaking groups: Paiute-Shoshoni pottery. Three variants of Paiute-Shoshoni ceramics have been described both ethnographically and archaeologically: Shoshoni pottery (Steward 1941, 1943), Southern Paiute pottery (Baldwin 1950), and Owens Valley Brown (Riddell 1951). The distribution of these variants generally follows known ethnographic distribu-