Research Training Program

Amy Marquardt
Coe College
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Tim McCoy, Ph.D.
Ed Vicenzi, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
Department of Mineral Sciences

"Science is acquiring knowledge. At NMNH, knowledge is acquired with passion and enthusiasm, creating an exciting environment for future researchers."

The Source of Hopewell Meteoritic Beads
and its Implications for Trade Routes

The Hopewell culture is at the center of an intriguing scientific mystery concerning the most unlikely of artifacts; necklace beads made of iron meteorites. Centered in the Ohio and Illinois River Valley during the Middle Woodland Period (200 BC-400AD), the Hopewell culture is recognized for the use of rare materials collected throughout North America. Scientists have discovered metal beads, created from an iron meteorite, at a Hopewell site in Havana, Illinois. Scientists suspected a link between the Havana beads and an iron meteorite found in Anoka, Minnesota, over 500 miles away. However, confirming a connection between the Havana beads and the Anoka meteorite was difficult in the past, due to limited information about the Havana beads. This study uses microscopic structure and chemical composition analysis to link those precious ceremonial beads to the Anoka iron meteorite and investigates how the beads were made. The core of Hopewell technology was wood-fueled fires used to heat the iron meteoritic metal, and stone tools utilized to work the metal into bead shapes. A comparison in the structure between the bead, undeformed and deformed iron meteorite, using microscopic analysis, will provide information about each stage of the bead-making process. Establishing a link between the Havana Hopewell beads and their source-material will shed valuable insight on the trade routes used by the Hopewell, and provide a new understanding of the movement of raw materials during prehistoric times in central North America.

This research was supported by an endowment from the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Letter of gratitude