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Transport of Neolithic variscites demonstrated by PIXE analysis
Author(s) -
Querré G.,
Herbault F.,
Calligaro Th.
Publication year - 2008
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/xrs.1031
Subject(s) - archaeology , peninsula , beaker , excavation , period (music) , balkan peninsula , archaeological science , geology , geography , art , ecology , biology , aesthetics
The large grave mounds from the Carnac region in Brittany are among the most impressive funeral architecture of the Neolithic period in France. The exceptional quality of the adornments such as polished stones, axes and beads necklaces deposited in burial chambers, probably reflects the high status of the buried persons. Despite the importance of these artifacts, already pointed out by archaeologists during the early excavations of the 19th century, their origins have never been really established on the basis of objective criteria. This study is focused on the beads, green in majority, similar to turquoise colour. A combination of technotypological study and chemical analysis by external‐beam particle‐induced x‐ray emission (PIXE) has been performed on these archaeological artifacts. The composition in major elements gives the mineralogical nature of the material, which turns out to be variscite, a hydrated aluminum phosphate. By comparison with the composition of variscite reference samples from various geological sources of Western Europe, the concentrations in trace elements allowed us to establish that the beads originated from the Iberian Peninsula. The presence of these Iberian ornamental elements in archaeological sites in Western France thus reveals long‐distance relations between the Neolithic human groups during the fifth to second millennium BC. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.