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Analysis of ancient pottery and ceramic objects using x‐ray fluorescence spectrometry
Author(s) -
Pillay A. E.,
Punyadeera C.,
Jacobson L.,
Eriksen J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4539(200001/02)29:1<53::aid-xrs405>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - pottery , provenance , prehistory , archaeology , archaeological science , experimental archaeology , nothing , art , geology , history , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology
Archaeology has been called ‘the science of the artefact’ and nothing demonstrates this point better than the current interest displayed in provenance studies of ies of archaeological objects. In theory, every vessel carries a chemical compositional pattern or ‘fingerprint’ identical with the clay from which it was made and this relationship is basic to provenance studies. The reasoning behind provenance or sourcing studies is to probe into the past and attempt to re‐create prehistory by obtaining information on exchange and social interaction. This paper discusses the use of XRF spectrometry for the analysis of ancient pottery and ceramics to examine whether it is possible to predict prehistoric cultural exchanges. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.