Laboratories for Archaeogeochemistry - One of the Department of Anthropology’s major research initiatives is to provide resources for the geochemical characterization of archaeological materials from its holdings and field research. The Elemental Analysis Facility was built with funds from the National Science Foundation, an anonymous donation, and the Anthropology Alliance. It is composed of an LA-ICP-MS lab managed by Dr. Laure Dussubieux and housed in Anthropology, and an interdisciplinary SEM-EDS lab managed by Betty Strack. The LA-ICP-MS lab operates around a high sensitivity Varian quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer with a New Wave UP213 laser ablation system for minimally destructive trace and minor elemental analysis of a variety of anthropological and other natural history specimens. Bulk sample analysis is served by a Milestone microwave digestion system located in a clean sample preparation room. Anthropological applications of the ICP-MS include the ability to identify the trace element composition of obsidian, ceramics, metals, and other materials quickly and efficiently. Over 50 different trace elements can be measured at one time, often to the parts per billion level, with high spatial accuracy. Thus, different components (paste, paints, temper, slip) of a ceramic can be tested individually and compared to signatures for different sources. The SEM-EDS lab includes a LEO EVO 60 Scanning Electron Microscope with an Oxford Instruments INCA Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy system that performs nondestructive major and minor elemental analysis of a variety of objects. This lab also houses an older Amray SEM for imaging only research. SEM-EDS can measure some elements to 0.1% by weight, and is effective at characterizing major compositions of metals, minerals, etc… It can also be used to map elemental compositions across a surface, and can quickly, nondestructively, and inexpensively retrieve the major elemental composition of an object (for most elements above Be). Analysis of metal technologies and comparisons of bronze alloying is an example anthropological application for this instrument. The Elemental Analysis Facility collaborates with the Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory at The Field Museum, directed by Curator of Meteoritics Meenakshi Wadhwa and managed by Dr. Phil Janney. The isotope geochemistry laboratory hosts a clean room for sample preparation and a high resolution Micromass Isoprobe multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer designed for isotopic analysis of many elements on the periodic table. The MC-ICP-MS is a high-resolution instrument that uses the mass difference of isotopes to identify the percentages of a single element’s isotopes in a run. In contrast to the quadropole ICP-MS, it is designed to measure at very high resolution, only the isotopes of one particular element at a time. Anthropological applications of the MC-ICP-MS include lead isotope ratios to source ores found in smelted metals (trace element analysis cannot do this since the element percentages are changed by the smelting process; but the lead isotope ratios remain the same as their parent ore). Strontium isotope ratios have also been employed to test the life history of human bone. Since Strontium isotope ratios vary in the groundwater in different regions, people subsisting from plants, animals, and water from that region will carry that isotopic ratio in their skeleton. Furthermore, skeletal material like teeth that mature in adolescence carry only the strontium ratios of the environment where they were formed. Migration hypotheses can be tested by comparing continuously growing bone to bone (like teeth) formed in childhood. Users interested in anthropological applications in any of the laboratories for archaeological chemistry should contact Assistant Curator of Archaeological Science Ryan Williams. Laboratory for GIS & Remote Sensing - The lab is outfitted for advanced technological prospection and spatial analysis of archaeological remains using GIS, satellite imaging, and ground based geophysics. Resources include a Sun workstation and several Windows notebooks running ERDAS IMAGINE 8.7, ArcGIS 9, and ArcView 3.3 for site based, regional, continental, and global geographic information systems applications. Field mapping equipment include a TOPCON total station and SMI data collector as well as several WAAS and differential capable GPS units. Ground based geophysics resources include Mala Geoscience X3M instrumentation for ground penetrating radar, a GEM Systems Overhauser gradient magnetometer, and a TR Systems electrical resistivity meter as well as analytical software (ReflexW). The lab is currently primarily dedicated to teaching and research carried out by Dr. Ryan Williams in the Andes. Pritzker Lab for Molecular Systematics and Evolution- The Museum's DNA Research Facility houses an Applied Biosystems 377XL Prism DNA sequencer and is a multi-user core facility dedicated to the genetic analysis and preservation of the world's biodiversity. Adjunct Curator Sloan Williams is the museum's principal anthropological expert on ancient human DNA. Other Anthropology Department Research: Africa | Asia | Archaeological Science | Caribbean |Cultural Understanding | Mesoamerica | North America | South America | Oceania