I’m leaving tomorrow morning on a four day field trip for my volcanology class.

We’re going to:

Saturday- Jemez Mountains
Sunday-Zuni Bandera basalt field
Monday- Sunset Crater and the San Francisco Volcanic Field

I’m also very excited about Mt. St. Helen’s. I almost wish we’d turn the vehicles north tomorrow and go to Washington instead.

I’m just putzing around during lunch trying to find some references and information to get me started on my thesis. Found some pretty good sites

• Ceramic Petrology, University of N. Carolina, Wilmington
• Ceramic Petrology by Alan Vince
• Why Study Ceramics Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• SOUTHWESTERN POTTERY AND TURQUOISE IN NORTHEASTERN TEXAS, by David H. Jurney and William Young
• Chemical Analysis of Pottery – An Introduction by Alan Vince
• JOURNAL of ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 54(4)Volume 54,Abstracts, pecial Issue: Anthropological Interpretations from Archaeological Ceramic Studies in the U.S. Southwest
• Pottery/Ceramics of Owens Valley and the Western Great Basin
• Clay Acquisition and Vessel Distribution Patterns
• Archaeological Research Facility at UC Berkeley
• Dr. Carol Redmount – Archaeological Research Facility (UC Berkeley)
• The Geospatial Group – Archaeologists and Anthropologists
• Center for Desert Archaeology Technical Reports (an annotated bibliography including several reports on temper analysis of ceramics)
• Technological Style in Early Bronze Age Anatolia a Ph.D. Dissertation proposal by E.S. Friedman (bibliography)

Some relevant Master’s Theses from ASU Grad Students:

• Yeatts, Michael (1990) A Chemical Characterization of the Ceramics from the McGraw Site in Ohio with the Electron Microprobe
• Duff, Andrew Ian Lyman (1993) An Exploration of Post-Chacoan Community Organization through Ceramic Sourcing
• Cohen, Allison Eva (1995) Beyond Ceramic Sourcing: Acid-Extraction Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy and
  Ceramic Production
• George, Henry J (1997) Petrographic Analysis of Ceramics from a Middle Bronze Age Village in Jordan
• Balsom, Janet R (1984) Application of Heavy Mineral Analysis to Grand Canyon Ceramics

Other references

• K. Spurr, P.R. Geib & J.H. Wittke, 1998, Electron microprobe analysis of volcanic ash temper in the investigation of Kayrnta
  Anasazi ceramic production and exchange: Society for American Archaeology 63rd Annual Meeting.
• R.L. Boston, 1995, Electron microprobe sourcing of volcanic ash temper in Sunset Red ceramics, M.A. Thesis, Northern Arizona
  University, 138 pp. (C. Downum, supervisor).
• K. Spurr, 1995, Compositional analysis of temper in Emery Gray ceramics from central Utah, Proceedings of the Second Biennial
  Conference on Research in Colorado Plateau National Parks, p. 137-169.
• K.C. Spurr, 1993, Compositional analysis of temper in Emery Gray and Sevier Gray ceramics of the Fremont culture, M.S. Thesis,
  Northern Arizona University, 209 pp. (K. Cruz-Uribe, supervisor).
• David P. Braun Radiographic Analysis of Temper in Ceramic Vessels: Goals and Initial MethodsJournal of Field Archaeology 9 (1982) 183–192
• James M. Heidke and Miriam T. Stark, 1995, The Roosevelt Community Development Study vol. 2: Ceramic
  Chronology, Technology, and Economics, Anthropological Papers no. 14, Center for Desert Archaeology, pg. 22.

Cool Internet Map Application
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Centers for Disease Control (CDC),USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service, and various local agencies are tracking the West Nile Virus. See West Nile Virus Maps at the National Atlas of the United States.

After a year of library research, foot dragging, and hand wringing, I’ve decided to change my thesis topic. This puts me pretty much a square one. In order to graduate on schedule (December 2000), I’m really going to have to buckle down. Personally, I don’t think I can do it, but I have a great cheering section (my husband, Hal and my advisor, Dr. Aber) who think I can.

My new thesis involves using optical mineralogy and petrology to describe the constituents of temper used in prehistoric ceramics found in the vicinity of Lake Mead, Nevada and Arizona. I’ll use existing geologic maps and reports to determine possible sources of the temper. Where geologic data is not available, I’ll use remote sensing data to determine the locations of mineral outcrops. Then I’ll visit all the candidate sites and collect specimens. Thin sections of specimens will be analyzed to determine if they could be source rocks for the temper.

Right now, I’m assembling articles and maps and applying for collection permits. I found a very useful link this morning to the Code of Federal Regulations.

Thanks Brent for fixing my web page!!