Sourcing Rapa Nui Mata‘a from the Collections of Bishop Museum Using Non-Destructive pXRF

Authors

  • Mara A. Mulrooney Bernice P. Bishop Museum
  • Andrew McAlister University of Auckland
  • Christopher M. Stevenson Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Alex E. Morrison University of Auckland
  • Lissa Gendreau Bernice P. Bishop Museum

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15286/jps.123.3.301-338

Keywords:

obsidian, museum collections, geochemical sourcing, portable X-ray flourescence, Rapa Nui, Easter Island

Abstract

On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), four geological sources of rhyolitic obsidian were utilised to manufacture obsidian artefacts, including tanged implements known as mata‘a. In the present study, a total of 332 mata‘a from the collections of Bishop Museum were analysed using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF). Two analytical methods, Discriminant Function Analysis and Support Vector Machines Classification, were used to assign geographical provenance to these artefacts. These appear to be manufactured using obsidians predominantly from Orito, one of four geological sources on the island. This study demonstrates how non-destructive analyses of museum collections can contribute to our understanding of obsidian procurement and production on Rapa Nui.

Author Biographies

Mara A. Mulrooney, Bernice P. Bishop Museum

Mara A. Mulrooney is an Assistant Anthropologist at Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, U.S.A. She has completed archaeological research throughout Oceania, most recently focused on Rapa Nui, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and the Hawaiian Islands. She is the director of the Ho‘omaka Hou Research Initiative at Bishop Museum, which is a collaborative collections-based research program. Her primary research interests include landscape analyses and the refinement of chronological models.

Andrew McAlister, University of Auckland

Andrew McAlister is a researcher in Anthropology, University of Auckland, New Zealand. His research interests include the archaeology of the Marquesas Islands, the Cook Islands and New Zealand, with an emphasis on investigating the distribution of material culture as a means of identifying social interaction.

Christopher M. Stevenson, Virginia Commonwealth University

Christopher M. Stevenson is an Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Program in the School of World Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University,  Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A. His research interests include prehistoric agricultural systems on Rapa Nui and the Canary Islands, as well as glass  hydrothermal experimentation, the application of obsidian hydration dating, and ceramic  rehydroxylation dating.

Alex E. Morrison, University of Auckland

Alex E. Morrison is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Anthropology, University of Auckland, New Zealand. His research interests include  paleoecological modelling, remote sensing and geophysical techniques, agent-based simulation and human predator-prey dynamics in marine ecosystems. Alex has been involved in archaeological research projects in Rapa Nui,  Hawai‘i, Samoa, Fiji, the Cook Islands, the Mariana Islands and Ecuador.

Lissa Gendreau, Bernice P. Bishop Museum

Lissa Gendreau is a Collections Technician at the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Pepperdine
University, California.
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Published

2014-12-12

Issue

Vol. 123 No. 3 (2014)

Section

Articles

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