Linking Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) with Geology in the Ancestral Caddo Region

This poster illustrates the success of a novel method of INAA that was employed to reveal geochemical signatures in Caddo ceramic vessel sherds that correlate with local surficial geology. The geochemical data from the sherd assemblage were used within an exploration of potential ceramic provenance, which was successful at demarcating sherds from ceramic vessels made from clays in either the Claiborne or Wilcox Groups. Further geochemical segregation was also apparent between the Recklaw Formation in the Claiborne Group, and the Weches Formation in the Wilcox Group. These results point to a high degree of geochemical variability within the East Texas region, which stands in stark contrast with the numerous previous studies that seemed to indicate that the clays in the East Texas region were overwhelmingly homogenous. The analytical gains achieved through using this method seem to highlight an area of Caddo research where significant progress can be made with regard to the interpretation of analytical results in the future