Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography

Julia Menne,Astrid Holzheid,Christopher Heilmann

doi:10.3390/min10100931

Abstract

Archaeometric investigation of ancient pottery with regard to their material composites allows insights into the material structures, production techniques and manufacturing processes. The applied methods depend on the classification of the pottery: some finds should remain unchanged for conservation reasons, other finds are less valuable or more common. While the first group cannot be destroyed for material analyses and the choice of analytical methods is limited, the latter can be investigated using destructive methods and thus can widen the spectrum of possible devices. Multi-element analyses of portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (portable XRF) have become important for archaeological research, as portable XRF provides a quick overview about the chemical composition of potteries and can be used in non-destructive as well as destructive ways in addition to conventional microscopic examination and petrographic thin sections. While most portable XRF analyses of solely fracture surfaces do not provide satisfying results, portable XRF analyses on pulverized samples are a cost-efficient and fast alternative to wavelength-dispersive XRF (WD-XRF). In comparison to WD-XRF, portable XRF on pulverized samples provides reliable concentration data (K, Fe, Rb, Ti, V, Y, Zn, Zr), but other elements need to be corrected. X-ray microtomography (µCT) has proven to be a non-destructive technique to derive not only the porosity of ancient pottery but also to characterize temper components and non-plastic inclusions. Hence, the µCT technique has the potential to extract valuable information needed by archaeologists, for example, to deduce details about manufacturing.

Highlights

Multi-element analyses of recent decades have gained importance in archaeological and geoarchaeological research
Research commonly agrees that portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry provides sufficient and accurate results of chemical compositions needed for linking different assemblages of archaeological finds together
19 samples from three sites of megalithic graves in northwest Germany [17] were selected for a comparison of portable XRF, wavelength-dispersive XRF (WD-XRF) measurements, X-ray microtomography scans and thin sections (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Multi-element analyses of recent decades have gained importance in archaeological and geoarchaeological research. Those analyses enable a fast acquisition of large data sets beyond complex laboratory analyses. It is possible to explore many different questions such as the provenance and use of raw materials, production techniques, interaction models of people and their objects, as well as settlement structures. Research commonly agrees that portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (portable XRF) provides sufficient and accurate results of chemical compositions needed for linking different assemblages of archaeological finds together. The reliability of the chemical compositions solely gained

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion