THE PROVENANCE OF PRE-CONTACT COPPER ARTIFACTS: SOCIAL COMPLEXITY AND TRADE IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY

Gregory D. Lattanzi In order to examine and define exchange networks in any given area, artifacts involved in trade must be chemically characterized to determine their source. Beginning with the Late Archaic period, copper artifacts appear in Delaware Valley region collections. Previous trade and exchange models explaining their presence in this region have not adequately defined or explained these models quantitatively. In order to test these exchange models an assemblage of Late Archaic to Early Woodland Delaware Valley copper artifacts were analyzed using laser ablation. In comparing artifacts with known native copper sources from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Midwest probable provenance can be assigned. In fingerprinting copper artifacts within archaeological contexts from the Delaware Valley, it becomes possible to identify models of trade and exchange and human social systems behind them. This paper attempts to explain types of trade and the development of social complexity through a shift in copper exploitation in the Delaware Valley and Middle Atlantic region. INTRODUCTION The Late Archaic and Early Woodland periods (5000 B.P. to 2500 B.P.) (Hantman and Gold 2002:274; Stewart 1995:186) in the Middle Atlantic region was a time of significant climate (Carbone 1976; Curry and Custer 1982) and cultural (Custer and Stewart 1982; Custer 1989; Gardner 1982; Stewart 2004) change. Native populations exhibited increased sedentism, scheduled settlement movements, made an increased variety of artifact classes, and participated in inter- and intra-regional trade and exchange networks (Custer 1987, 1989; MacNeish 1971; Stewart 1995, 2003). Native groups living within circumscribed environments like the Delaware Valley operated within a formalized exchange network, trading both local and non-local items with neighboring groups. As a result, rudimentary beginnings of social complexity were appearing in the Early Woodland period throughout the Delaware Valley/Middle Atlantic region (Custer and Stewart 1982; Gardner 1982:74-77), which, by Late Woodland times had devolved, altered or remained egalitarian (Becker 1995, 2006a, 2006b; Stewart 1982:27). During the Early Woodland period in the Delaware Valley, relationships between emerging social complexity and exchange systems are poorly understood. In order to examine and identify prehistoric exchange systems one must accurately identify and delineate source areas for a particular raw material by quantitative means (Goad 1976:17). Identifying the provenance of individual copper objects (from one or multiple geologic sources) within a single site or burial during the Early Woodland period in the Delaware Valley provides direct empirical evidence for trade and also may provide evidence for relatively complex social systems (Binford 1971; Saxe 1970). Previous explanations for the presence of copper artifacts on Early Woodland Delaware Valley sites had centered on the predominant trade model, invariably assuming that all copper artifacts come from Michigan or other Midwest sources. This model implied a number of hypotheses, but the proponents never clearly articulated these ideas nor fully explored, evaluated or chemically tested the theories. The first of these theories assumed that there was an influx of groups into this region carrying finished copper artifacts with them (Ritchie 1944, 1980; Ritchie and Dragoo 1959). The second is that ceremonial leaders brought copper artifacts with them into the region (Dragoo 1963, 1976). The third hypothesis is the notion of resource-foray trips made out of the Delaware Valley by individuals or groups specifically for trade (on trading missions) into broad-based networks to obtain most of their exotic goods
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which they brought back (Stewart 1989, 2004). Pre-contact copper artifacts from the Delaware Valley or Middle Atlantic region were not qualitatively analyzed to test these theories. If artifacts are not from Michigan, but actually from more local sources, what does that say about previous notions of the kind of exchange system in this region? If there is a shift in copper procurement over time, and does that translate into archaeologically visible social signatures? Is this shift an adaptive response by local socialized groups to regional cultural conditions of information and exchange networks? Do these signatures imply some type of social inequality among Delaware Valley peoples? This paper reports on a pilot study carried out to test these assumptions, consisting of 10 pre-contact copper artifacts from burial (ornamental) and non-burial (utilitarian) contexts dating from the Late Archaic to Early Woodland periods. GEOLOGIC SOURCES OF COPPER IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY REGION Native copper ore deposits occur from the Carolinas up to Maine (Figure 1). However, deposits occurring as veins that extend to the surface and run underground must be mined in order to extract the copper mineral. The ore must also occur with natural copper of sufficient purity to be cold worked. The Delaware Valley, specifically New Jersey and Pennsylvania, contains some of the richest copper deposits on the East Coast (Woodward 1944). Historical reports of massive copper boulders plowed up in fields are likely describing drift copper. One such report states that in 1789, Jedidiah Morse noted that lumps of virgin copper weighing from 5 to 30 pounds and totaling 200 pounds were plowed up in a field on Phillip Frenchs farm in New Brunswick, New Jersey (Weiss and Weiss 1963:47). The sources of extractable copper and their exact locations within the Delaware Valley have been discussed elsewhere (Lattanzi and Veit 2006; Levine 1996, 2000; Rapp et al. 2000). Prehistorically two forms of copper were available to native populations exposed surface veins and drift copper. The most utilized and familiar type of copper is that which occurs in Michigan in the Keewanaw Peninsula, where prehistoric open pits or mines remain visible. These pits typically exploited surface veins of copper. A thorough search of the literature shows no reported copper mines or open pits used by natives in the Delaware Valley (Levine 1996). That brings us to the second kind of observable copper - drift copper. Drift or float copper comes in the form of nuggets, boulders or small pieces of whole copper transported by glaciers great distances from their original source or flow, and exploited hundreds of miles away. These forms would be easily transportable and workable. Drift copper would maintain trace elemental characterization similar to the original flow source and thus be similar to the artifact made from that copper (Allert et al. 1991). Recently, Halsey (2004:1) has presented the hypothesis that much of the copper employed by Northeast Native Americans came from glacial drift deposits rather than bedrock mining. This argument could be true, as glaciers covered the northern third of New Jersey and Pennsylvania during the Wisconsin Ice Age, and moraine deposits are common (Widmer 1964:127-131). It is suggested that drift copper was easily available to native inhabitants in the Middle Atlantic region prior to European contact. Since drift copper deposits may not now be available for testing, unless they are museum samples, one must rely on samples from mines or veins to provide samples used in most characterization studies. The results of testing samples taken from drift and vein copper will only tell you whether the trace elements of an artifact are similar to that source flow. Trace elements do vary within the same ore body; however, they show significant chemical characteristics for artifact identifications (Allert et al.1991). THE COPPER DEBATE Archaeologists have been debating the origins of copper artifacts found in the Delaware Valley for well over a hundred years (Abbott 1881:411-422, 1885; Cross 1956:121-122; Carpenter 1950; Kraft 1996, 2001; Mounier 2003; Ritchie 1980; Thomas 1969, 1971; Skinner and Schrabisch 1913:29-30; Schrabisch 1917:45;

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Stewart 1989; Williams and Thomas 1982:148). The debate centers on the question whether all pre-contact copper artifacts found in the region originate from the Midwest, or derive from more local sources (Abbott 1881, 1885; Decker 1942; Juet 1959; Levine 1996, 2000; MacCord 2005; Nelson 1893; Williams et al. 1982; Weld 1807). As such, hypotheses were developed to account for coppers presence in the region, but not the human social systems behind it. Ritchie proposed one of the first hypotheses to account for the presence of copper artifacts in the Northeast (Ritchie 1944:324; 1980:202-204; Ritchie and Dragoo 1959). He stated that the copper found in the Northeast was brought into the region by Adena peoples migrating in from the Midwest, taking their goods and burial traditions with them (Ritchie 1944, Figure 1. Middle Atlantic Region and beyond showing copper sources 1980; Ritchie and Dragoo 1959). (not including drift copper). (From Ross 1935:152, Figure 12.) Dragoo (1963:287) further notes that those Adena/Middlesex sites in Maryland and Delaware appear to be excellent examples of the presence of ceremonial leaders who gathered their prized possessions and burial traditions when they moved from the Ohio Valley (italics added). Later, Kraft (1986:98-104) agreed with this paradigm, noting that although copper deposits exist in New Jersey, they were too poor to be used for the artifacts found within the state (Kraft 2001; Yolton 1984) and that copper found on sites in New Jersey and Pennsylvania must have been brought in from Michigan. Griffin (1961), Thomas (1969, 1971, 1976) and Mounier (1983, 2003) proposed alternative hypotheses about Adena manifestations in the Northeast. They state that copper and other Adena artifacts and mortuary rituals were the result of a formalized extensive trading system between the regions that began in the Archaic period, rather than a movement of actual groups or individuals into the Northeast. Griffin (1961:573) argued that Ritchie and Dragoo did not adequately consider the mechanisms of trade and diffusion. Concerning the list of Adena-Middlesex traits proposed by Ritchie and Dragoo, a lack of a consistent burial complex becomes clear. According to Griffin (1961:572), this would be what one might expect if the Middlesex complex was composed of several discrete entities separated both geographically and temporally. It appears that all of the Adena traits, artifacts and customs still find themselves in the east, possibly as part of a large trade or exchange network with the Midwest. Additionally, Stewart (1989, 1994, 2004) suggests that individuals/entrepreneurs or small groups from the Middle Atlantic would conduct foray trips within broadbased networks to obtain goods, bring them back and hoard them. Focused networks are linked with nascent complex societies, where these exotic goods end up in burials or other special contexts (Stewart 2004:342). Like the other hypotheses, Stewart (2004:343-4) sees a cultural mix between Adena and Hopewell traits to the east, and again artifacts with probable Midwestern origins. Most authors agree that long distance trade patterns established in the Archaic period continued well into the Woodland period (Pleger 2000). Recent studies have suggested that copper artifacts from Early Woodland sites are not likely to have come from the Midwest, but from more local sources. Provenance studies taken up by Levine (1996) for the

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Northeast, Hurst and Larson (1958) and Goad (1978) for the Southeast, and initial results from Wellman (1994) for Vermont, support a local-source hypothesis. As will be explained below, these results are important for their impact upon earlier notions of Delaware Valley and Middle Atlantic trade and social complexity. PREVIOUS CHARACTERIZATION STUDIES To answer questions posed by the models mentioned above about trade and social complexity requires undertaking characterization studies on copper artifacts. There have only been two previous studies, each with at least two Delaware Valley pre-contact copper samples chemically tested. In these cases, both from New Jersey, copper artifacts are associated with burial contexts from sites dating to the Early Woodland Period: the Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark and the Rosenkrans Ferry site. Linda Ann Britton (1967), a graduate student of Dorothy Cross, studied copper recovered from the Abbott Farm. In Excavation 2 (Pit 55), Burial 12 consisted of a number of partially cremated individuals covered with red ochre. Exotic artifacts from the burial consisted of a large biface blade made of whitecolored Mistassini quartzite found only in the Colline Blanche area of Quebec, over 600 miles to the north (Stephen Loring, 2006 personal communication). Two copper gorgets, 1 copper boatstone, 1 copper hemispherical object, 1 copper disc and over 1,000 copper beads were also part of the assemblage (Cross 1956: Plate 30). A typical Adena-like gorget was recovered during the unit clean up. Britton (1967:33) tested the copper disk from Burial 12 at the Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan using x-ray fluorescence, along with five samples of native copper from several source localities. The Abbott Farm copper disc contained the same amount of silver (.01 ppm) as did the Michigan sample. The only other trace element Britton (1967:35) recorded for the disc was iron (.06 ppm). Based on these results she determined that the Abbott Farm copper came from a Michigan source. The late Herbert C. Kraft (1976:16) arranged for the study of an unknown number of copper ring beads from Burials #2 and #5 from the Rosenkrans Ferry site. Mr. Henry Wemple, a metallurgist at General Electric Company Materials and Processes Laboratory in Syracuse, New York, subjected the beads to spectroscopic, x-ray diffraction, and other tests (Kraft 1996:22), along with two control samples of native copper, one piece from Michigan and one from Tennessee. The copper that came from Michigan contained 50pp thousand of silver (Ag) (Kraft 1996:23), which was the same amount of silver as in the beads from Rosenkrans. Unlike Britton, Kraft did not publish the trace elemental data in his report. METHODOLOGY Elemental concentrations can be discerned at levels of 1-10ppt (parts per thousand) for traditional ICPMS and down to ppm (parts per million), and a few tenths of ppb (parts per billion) using LA-ICP-MS (Gratuze 1999) offering comparable if not greater sensitivity. Laser ablation sampling is far less destructive than Inductive Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA), and the pieces are still viable after testing (Levine 1996, Rapp et al. 2000). Laser ablation creates a crater that can range from 20 to 200m in diameter depending on the elements measured (Gratuze 1999:870). Damage to objects is minimal in areas of high visualization; therefore, museum specimens can be tested without easily noted change to even exposed areas. A Finnigan MAT ELEMENT High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) with a Merchantek (Nd-YAG) laser fitted with harmonic generators to yield outputs in the UV range suitable for geologic samples was used (Jackson 2001:29). Using a National Institute of Standards and Technology copper standard between slides increased precision on the samples (Bastian 1961:168). Using this copper standard and running a gas blank through the machine between slides would correct any instrumental drift that sometimes occurs while running multiple slides (Gratuze 1999:873). Six samples were adhered to a single

Provenance of Pre-Contact Copper Artifacts Table 1. Copper artifacts used in ICP-MS study.
Specimen 1 2 3 4 5 Catalogue # IL2004.5.585 IL2004.5.720 IL2004.5.721 AE472.57104 AE472.53016 Description Celt Spearhead Spearhead Copper pressure flaker/awl copper tube bead with 2 end perforations Bead Copper tube bead Copper short tube bead 2 copper ring beads fused together Weight 560.6g 98.3g 27.1g 24.3g 1.8g Time Period Late Archaic Early Woodland Late Archaic Early Woodland Late Archaic Early Woodland Early Woodland Late Archaic Early Woodland Early Woodland Early Woodland Early Woodland Early Woodland Source Philhower Collection Philhower Collection Philhower Collection Cross 1956, Fig. 3, No. 5 Cross 1956, Fig. 3, No. 4 Cross 1956, Plate 30,b Gleason and Dumont Gleason and Dumont Gleason and Dumont

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Site/Location Shawnee, Monroe Co., PA Stowe Creek, Salem Co., NJ Frenchtown, Hunterdon Co., NJ Abbott Farm, Mercer Co., NJ Abbott Farm, Mercer Co., NJ Abbott Farm, Mercer Co., NJ Rosenkrans Sussex Co., NJ Rosenkrans Sussex Co., NJ Rosenkrans Sussex Co., NJ

6 7 8 9 & 10

AE472.6194 AE544.19462 AE544.19463 AE544.19464

.2g 4.2g 2.5g 7.9g

slide; while larger samples (e.g., beads) were placed in the machine whole. A discussion of the methodology for sample removal has been published (Lattanzi and Veit 2006). Data on 10 elements were generated. The major trace elements that would prove to be most productive for determining the geologic source of native copper to compare with artifact samples are silver (Ag), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb), lanthenum (La), tungstun (W), gold (Au), mercury (Hg), chromium (Cr), and iron (Fe). ARTIFACTS Ten copper artifacts (Table 1) from five archaeological site locations (four in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania) were sent to the Materials Characterization Laboratory at The Pennsylvania State University for analysis. All of the specimens are housed at the New Jersey State Museum, Bureau of Archaeology & Ethnology. It is worth noting the provenance of some of the specimens used in this study. While using only professionally excavated archaeological objects would have been preferable, the current lack of copper artifacts from controlled contexts in New Jersey necessitated the use of avocationally excavated and collected finds (see also Veit et al. 2004). Given that the focus of this paper is on copper sourcing and trade, the sitelevel provenience available for these artifacts, while not optimal, is sufficient for this type of analysis. Mr. Charles A. Philhower of Westfield, New Jersey collected Specimens 1 through 3. An avid collector, Mr. Philhower amassed a large collection of archaeological and ethnographic objects. Most of his collection has notes as to provenance; however, no exact information was available for these three specimens. Specimen 1 is described as a spear point of the Old Copper Culture (Late Archaic period), recovered along Stowe Creek in Salem County, southern New Jersey. Specimen 2 is described as a spear point of the Old Copper Culture (Late Archaic period), recovered from Frenchtown in Hunterdon County, northern New Jersey. Specimen 3 is described as a copper axe head (or celt) of the Old Copper Culture (Late Archaic period), found near the town of Shawnee in Pennsylvania along the Delaware River.

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The following artifacts come from the New Jersey State Museum excavations at the Abbott Farm site under the direction of Dr. Dorothy Cross. Specimen 4 was first described as a tube bead tapered at both ends, then later as an awl. I would reassign this artifact as a pressure flaking tool, due to clear mushrooming at the one end. Recovered from the Abbott Farm site from Excavation 12 in 1939 (Cross 1956:27, 122-123), this piece measures approximately 94 mm in length and 9 mm in diameter at the center tapering to 5 mm at each end (Cross 1956:122-123). This artifact was found at a depth of 28 inches below ground surface. Artifacts also recovered from this same level in association with this artifact were one Bare Island point, and the base of an Orient Fishtail projectile point. Specimen 5, recovered from Excavation 14 at the Abbott Farm site, is a cylindrical rolled tube bead with two perforations at either end (Cross 1956:122, Figure 3, No.4). Two additional beads (Cross 1956:122, Figure 3, No. 2 & 3) were found along with Specimen 5 within the same level, a few feet of each other. This artifact was recovered at a depth of 28 inches below ground surface. Three diagnostic argillite projectile points were excavated along with this specimen. The first two argillite pieces described as triangle points have heavily worked bases, and the third could possibly be a Bare Island point. Late Archaic-Early Woodland triangles from the Delaware Valley are adequately discussed in Stewart and Cavallo (1998) and Katz (2000). A Late Archaic-Early Woodland spear point and two additional rolled copper tube beads were also recovered from the same level. Based on the association of the lithic typology, the copper bead is tentatively assigned to the Early Woodland period. This specimen is still being researched as to its correct provenance based on the possible evidence of mixing of early and late prehistoric archaeological components in near-surface soils as mentioned by Stewart (1983:35, 43). Cross (1956:122) even alluded to the possibility that this and the other two other beads were made of sheet copper by whites and later fashioned into beads by the natives. Specimen 6 is a small round bead from Burial 12, Excavation 2 at the Abbott Farm. As mentioned above, this bead is part of over 1,000 additional beads, 2 gorgets and 1 boatstone excavated from a cremated burial said to include one adult female, one adult male, and an infant. The artifact measures 3.5 mm in diameter by .4 mm high. The remaining four specimens (7-10) are from the Rosenkrans Ferry site, excavated in the summer of 1945 by Kenneth Gleason and Gustave Dumont (Cross 1945:4-5). All of these artifacts were recovered from Burial #2, a childs cremation burial (Kraft 1976:16). Additional artifacts from this pit were a jasper arrow point and a chalcedony drill, and cord-marked potsherds (Cross 1945:5). Specimen 7, from the Rosenkrans Ferry Site is a cylindrical rolled tube bead with hollow ends, attributed to the Early Woodland period. It measures 5.3 cm in length by 5 mm in thickness measured in the middle. This specimen appears very similar to the tube bead listed above C, cited in Kraft (1976:17, Figure 3). Specimen 8 is a cylinder rolled bead capped at each end and flattened on the sides. It measures 2.6 cm in length by .75 mm in thickness measured in the middle. This artifact also appears similar to the far right bead in the middle row above E cited in Kraft (1976:17, Figure 3). Specimens 9 and 10 are two large flat ribbons of sheet copper rolled up into balls (.8 cm across, .4 for each bead). They are thick in the middle and hammered at the ends that overlap each other. The beads are fused together side by side due to oxidation, but identified for individual testing. These beads resemble the ring beads as cited in Kraft (1976:17, Figure 3, a) from Burial #2, and may have been tested by him. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS The results of the laser ablation sampling were examined in Microsoft Excel format, and then transferred to SPSS statistical software programs for analysis. Using the normalization formula described in Rapp et al. (2000:64), a canonical discriminate analysis was performed to test for similarity in element composition between the copper artifacts and native copper (180 specimens) from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Midwest sources. These samples were also tested using the same instrument and copper standard in order to maintain control over the data output. Matthew McKnight of Penn State University provided the data for geological specimens used in this study as part of ongoing research collaboration into pre-contact copper studies.

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Figure 2. Scatterplot discriminant function 1 by function 2 of source groups and artifacts. Although the results are preliminary, a few patterns emerge. The artifacts appear closely related to either the Franklin Mine (NJ) or the Cornwall Mine (PA) sources, or another source not accounted for in the dataset. Figure 2 is a scatterplot representing the discriminant function 1 plotted against discriminant function 2. Discriminate function 1 and function 2 account for 88.7 % of the variability in the dataset. The first two functions always are the most important variables in discriminant function analysis. Figure 2 displays the data clumped into distinct copper regions the Keweenaw sources, the Great Lakes area, Pennsylvania and New Jersey source areas. Table 2 shows both the Eigenvalues and the Wilks statistic for the first three discriminant functions created through an analysis of 12 geologic sources. All of the data are presented according to source location, 12 separate regions in all (Figure 3). From this graphical representation, the provenance of most copper artifacts seems very distinct. Based on these graphs, it is clear that the chemical composition of most artifacts are similar to those from more local sources (New Jersey and Pennsylvania) and not from the Midwest. One interesting note concerns the two Old Copper Culture spear points (Specimens 1 and 2). Based on the data in these figures, it appears that there is an unknown source for these two objects in the Great Lakes area. This conclusion would agree with most research concerning Late Archaic utilitarian copper objects originating from the Midwest region. The celt (Specimen 3) may date to the Early or Middle Woodland, based on its close association to the Pennsylvania and New Jersey native geologic sources. This would agree with the notion presented here that Late Archaic copper is from the Great Lakes area, while Early and Middle Woodland copper artifacts are from more local sources. However, since no exact provenance on this object exists, it is hard to be definitive. Another interesting note is the probable source for Specimen 5. The location of the artifact on the scatterplot clearly shows little relation between this specimen and geologic sources. This specimen may date to the Late Woodland or Contact period based on colluvium activity on the slope of Excavation 14 (Stewart 1983). This specimen and the two found at the same level require additional research. A convincing argument against a Midwestern origin for the Early Woodland New Jersey material comes from

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Figure 3. Scatterplot discriminant function 1 by function 2 of twelve geological sources and artifacts. the Rosenkrans Ferry site. The elemental data from Specimens 7 through 10 place these object somewhere
Table 2. Eigenvalues and Wilks' for all sources included in canonical discriminate function analysis. Eigen % of Cumulative Canonical Wilks value var. % Cor. Lambda a 1 4.341 60.1 60.1 .902 .034 (1-3) .821 .180 (2-3) 2 2.061a 28.6 88.7 11.3 100.0 .671 .550 (3) 3 .817a a First 3 canonical discriminate functions were used in the analysis. Function ChiSquare 571.447 289.137 100.620 df 33 20 9 Sig. .000 .000 .000

between the New Jersey and Pennsylvania mine sources. This refutes Krafts assertion that the copper from Rosenkrans clearly came from Michigan (Kraft 1976: 42). It is interesting to note that Griffin (1961:573) interpreted the Rosenkrans Ferry copper artifacts as made entirely from local materials. He argued that although there may appear a number of Adena traits at Rosenkrans and other Delmarva/Adena sites, one should not mistake a high percentage or number of similar traits/artifacts for groups of people migrating into the region (Griffin 1961). Griffin also stated that one should not confuse this (Delmarva/Adena) burial complex with that of the Ohio Valley Adena. CONCLUSIONS This preliminary analysis showed that Early Woodland copper artifacts in the Delaware Valley appear to come from a non-Midwest source, suggesting a more focused pattern of local copper procurement,

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manufacture, trade and exchange within the Delaware Valley. During the transition between the Late Archaic and the Early Woodland, the transport of copper and other exotic materials is being focused toward specific locations rather than randomly outward from the source (Goad 1978:114). Pre-contact copper procurement strategies were not static, suggesting that native populations procured raw material from distinct deposits (Levine 1996:198), including those that they knew locally. Additionally, these local copper artifacts find themselves within burials along with exotic artifacts, improving our understanding of the development of social complexity during Early Woodland period. To examine the dynamics of native group interactions over the landscape and through time, more sourcing studies on Late Archaic to Early Woodland copper artifacts throughout the Northeast should be performed. Pre-contact copper scholars must recognize the importance of native copper and its producers varied among indigenous groups over time and space (Childs 1994:233). During the Early Woodland period in the Delaware Valley, increased regional and cultural diversity were greater than previously thought (Stewart 2003; Versaggi 1999). Whether or not the changes noted in this study were responses to regional environmental changes, inter-group competition over resources, or increased information and commodity exchange, the archaeological evidence of social inequality is there and we, as archaeologists specializing in this region, should start examining and talking about the elephant in the room.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thanks all the participants of the Down in the Valley session at the 2006 ESAF conference in Fitchburg, Mass., where this paper was presented. John Kittleson of Penn State Universitys ICP-MS Materials Characterization Laboratory Lab ran the samples. I would also like to thank R. Michael Stewart for his discussion and comments as part of this session. Dr. Marshall Becker and R. Alan Mounier are thanked for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. Any errors are, of course, my own.

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The preceding article was subjected to formal peer review prior to publication.