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NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS: AN OVERVIEW OF THE ITN NAA LABORATORY, PORTUGAL
Author(s) -
DIAS M. I.,
PRUDÊNCIO M. I.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2007.00308.x
Subject(s) - neutron activation analysis , archaeology , barium , certified reference materials , neutron activation , uranium , archaeological science , environmental science , mineralogy , geology , radiochemistry , neutron , chemistry , materials science , geography , metallurgy , physics , nuclear physics , chromatography , detection limit
Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been applied to archaeological samples at the Portuguese Research Reactor (RPI) since 1973, and the number of samples analysed has increased steadily since the mid‐1990s. Archaeometric applications of INAA at RPI include the analysis of archaeological ceramics and the stones used in monumental architecture (menhirs) and other historical monuments. A programme of analysis also exists for measuring the precision of and contributing to the certified values of geochemical reference samples. In addition, the study of interference factors is performed to obtain better accuracy in the determination of concentrations of some elements (e.g., corrections for spectral interferences from uranium fission products in the determination of barium, rare earth elements and zirconium).