FINGERPRINTING ANCIENT EGYPTIAN QUARRIES: PRELIMINARY RESULTS USING LASER ABLATION MICROPROBE‐INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA‐MASS SPECTROMETRY*

Abstract

Microchemical analysis of minerals present in pottery and stone artefacts may help determine their provenance. Electron microprobe major element analyses of augite suggest that minor elements (Ti02,MnO, Aa2O) are important in fingerprinting basalts. This points to the potential usefulness of trace elements. Augite present in six basalt samples (representing all known/suspected Pharaonic basalt quarries in northern and middle Egypt) and basaltic temper fragments in two New Kingdom pottery sherds was analysed for 28 trace elements (Sr, Ba, Th, U, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. Sc, V, Cr, Ni, Ga) by laser ablation microprobe‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LAM‐ICP‐MS, laserprobe). Cluster and discriminant analysis indicate that (1) laserprobe trace element data are more effective at fingerprinting basalts than conventional electron‐microprobe data and (2) basaltic temper in the two sherds does not match any of the quarries. Microbeam techniques providing trace element data may represent the future for mineral‐based provenance studies.