LEAD ISOTOPES AND XRF ANALYSES OF BRONZE BELL FRAGMENTS FROM THE SPANISH COLONIZATION ERA

Elemental and isotopic studies have recently been conducted on bronze bells recovered from 16^th – 17^th century Spanish Colonial missions. The use of mission bells in daily colonial life not only served as timekeeping devices, calling to prayer and daily tasks, but also reinforced the power dynamics of colonialism. A study of 200+ bronze bell fragments from two separate geographic regions, the American Southwest and Southeast, has been completed over the course of several years at the Center for Applied Isotope Studies (CAIS). Surface sampling of lead from these bells, followed by isotopic analyses via multiple collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) is used in conjunction with elemental analysis using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to link individual bell fragments to the “parent” bell from which they originated. Ultimately, this allows an approximation for the minimum number of individuals (MNI) present in each bell fragment collection. This study aims to discuss the results of each region and any further implications this work might have on casting methods during this era.