The San Juan Basin Archaeological Society invites the public to a presentation in the Lyceum at the Center of Southwest Studies and on Zoom on Wednesday, May 14th, at 7:00 p.m. in the lyceum at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College. After a brief business meeting, Sharon Hull, PhD, interpretive ranger at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, will present “Turquoise Trade in the Chacoan World and Beyond.” A reception will start things off at 6:30 p.m. in the CSWS foyer.

The procurement and exchange of turquoise was an important part of pre-Columbian American Southwest and Mesoamerican cultures. The ability to identify the geological source of the turquoise artifacts recovered from archaeological sites enhances our understanding of procurement strategies among sites and cultures. A technique to identify the source regions of turquoise artifacts was developed using the isotope ratios of hydrogen (2H/1H) and copper (65Cu/63Cu), measured by a secondary ion mass spectrometer, to “fingerprint” the turquoise deposits. To improve our understanding of long-distance trade among Chacoan sites, 59 turquoise artifacts recovered Pueblo Bonito, Marcia’s Rincon, Aztec, and Salmon Ruins were analyzed. Our results showed multiple long-distance trade networks into Chaco Canyon, different procurement strategies between the great house Pueblo Bonito and Marcia’s Rincon, a community of agriculturalist and artisans, and some similar patterns with Aztec and Salmon Ruins.

Sharon earned her BA from the Department of Anthropology/Geography at CU Boulder in 2003, her MA from the Department of Anthropology at Eastern New Mexico University in 2006, and her PhD for her thesis “Turquoise Trade and Procurement in the Chacoan World” from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba in 2012.