engleski

Advanced Instrumental Methods in Chemical Profiling of Archaeological Samples

Compositional analysis of archaeological objects and findings by mineralogical, pet¬rographic, and chemical methods provides valuable information about provenance, technology of production, and authenticity. Advanced instrumental analytical meth¬ods are adopted as the most helpful tools in the chemical characterization of archae¬ological artefacts. Spectroscopy methods such as instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), proton induced X-ray and gamma-ray emission (PIXE, PIGE), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction and fluorescence (XRD, XRF), and laser ablation coupled to plasma mass spectrometry (LA- ICP-MS) have been employed in a broad spectrum of archaeological research. The notable advantages of atomic spectrometry methods based on an inductively coupled plasma source with optical or mass detection (ICP-AES, ICP-MS) lies in reliable and high dimensional quantita¬tive elemental characterization of various materials. A multi- sample and/or multi-method analytical approach has showed to be suitable for the collection of sufficient compositional data, which are a prerequisite for the characterization of finds. The statistical treatment of large sets of spectrometric data provides better insight into differences among the visually similar features of heterogeneous material. Thus, ch¬emometric methods based on univariate and multivariate statistics are often applied in archaeometric studies. Multivariate statistics using principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering by exploiting chemical signatures allows the dis¬tinctions among objects to become visible. The combinations of analytical instru¬mental methods and chemometric tools enable the classification of artefacts with quite similar characteristics at a macroscopic scale. However, identifying the prove¬nience of archaeological objects based on chemical fingerprinting is still a challeng¬ing task. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to present an overview of advanced instrumental techniques along with their advantages and disadvantages in a specific area of archaeological sample recognition.

ICP-AES ; characterization ; Chemical Profiling ; Archaeological Samples

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