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A New Approach to Dating the League of the Iroquois

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Robert D. Kuhn  and
Martha L. Sempowski
Robert D. Kuhn
Affiliation:
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Peebles Island, P.O. Box 189, Waterford, NY 12188-0189
Martha L. Sempowski
Affiliation:
Rochester Museum & Science Center, 657 East Avenue, Box 1480, Rochester, NY 14603-1480
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Abstract

When did the League of the Five Nations Iroquois originate? This study presents a new approach to answering this age-old question. Compositional data were collected on ceramics (pottery and smoking pipes) from Seneca and Mohawk sites in an attempt to identify and reconstruct exchange and interaction patterns between these two widely separated League members. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectrometry were employed to collect data on 15 elements. Using pottery as a baseline for each area, pipe data were utilized in a discriminant-function analysis to identify exotic pipes in Seneca assemblages from different time periods. The investigation focused on pipes because they were a probable item of exchange and because the symbolism of pipes and tobacco made smoking an important part of Iroquoian political protocol. Results showed that Mohawk pipes first occurred in Seneca assemblages sometime between A.D. 1590 and A.D. 1605. This is considered likely to reflect the inception of peaceful political relations between these two groups brought about by the final coalescence of the Iroquois Five Nations Confederacy. The approach developed for this study employed nondestructive analytical techniques applied to common classes of ceramic artifacts. As such, the methodology should be broadly applicable to other studies of interaction and exchange in this and other regions.

Résumé

Résumé

¿Cuándo empezó La Liga de las 5 Naciónes Iroquis? Esta investigación présenta una nueva avenida para contestar una pregunta antigua. Datas composicionales sobre alfareria y pipas fueron recolectados defumar de sitios Séneca Mohawk, para de identificar y reconstruir normas de intercambio e interacción entre estos dos distantes miembros de la liga. Fluorescencia de rayos—X (XRF) y espectrometría de emisiones de rayos-X inducidas por partículas (PIXE) se emplearon para a recoger datos sobre quince elementos quimicos. Usando alfarería como base para cada región, datos de las pipas fueron utilizados en un análisis defunción discriminante para identificar pipas cerámicas exóticas en conjuntos Sénecas de diferentes périodes de tiempo. La investigación se concentra en pipas porque estas fueron un probable articule de intercambio y porque el simbolismo de pipas y de tabaco hizo delfumar una parte importante del protocole politico de los Iroquis. Los resultados mostraron que las pipas Mohawk ocurrieron primero en conjuntos Sénecas entre D. C. 1590 y D.C. 1605. Esto se considéra, probablemente, un reflejo del principio de relaciones pollticas pacíficas entre estos dos grupos, ocasionadas por la union final de la Confederación de las 5 Naciónes de los Iroquis. La avenida desarrollada para esta investigación usó técnicas analiticas no destructivas, aplicadas a clases comunes de artefactos cerámicos. Por eso, la metodología debe ser ampliamente aplicable a otras investigaciones de interacción e intercambio aquiy en otras regiones.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 66 , Issue 2 , April 2001 , pp. 301 - 314
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2001

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