Materials, archaeological analyses

Most of the essential information on archaeological materials is derived, at the present time, using physical methods of analysis. This may include the qualitative or quantitative assessment of their composition, their provenance, the techniques used for their production, and their age. Some of the most widely used methods of chemical analysis based on physical principles are succinctly reviewed in the following paragraphs. 

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) is a technique for the qualitative and/or quantitative determination of atoms possessing certain types of nuclei. Bombarding a sample with neutrons transforms some stable isotopes into radioactive isotopes measuring the energy and/or intensity of the gamma rays emitted from the radioactive isotopes created as a result of the irradiation reveals information on the nature of the elements in the sample. NAA Is widely used to characterize such archaeological materials as pottery, obsidian, chert, basalt, and limestone (Keisch 2003). 

Heyworth, M. P., J. R. Hunter, S. E. Warren, and J. N. Walsh (1988), The analysis of archaeological materials using inductively coupled plasma spectrometry, in Slater, E. A. and J. O. Tate (eds.), Science in Archaeology, Glasgow. 

Jose-Yacaman, M. and J. A. Ascencio (2000), Electron microscopy and its application to the study of archaeological materials and art preservation, in Ciliberto, E. and G. Spoto (eds.), Modern Analytical Methods in Art and Archaeology, Chemical Analysis Series, Vol. 155, Wiley, New York, pp. 405-443. 

Figure 14.6 Generalised analytical protocol for the compound specific stable isotope analysis of free and building block components of complex archaeological materials...

Cholesterol, 2 104 10 804-805 ascorbic acid and, 25 767-768, 769 chemical analysis of archaeological materials, 5 749... 

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), 25 60 of archaeological materials, 5 742, 743 in thorium analysis, 24 774, 775 Inductively coupled plasma technique,... 

In Britain, the term archaeometry was coined in the early 1950s by Christopher Hawkes in Oxford to describe the increased emphasis on dating, quantification and physicochemical analysis of archaeological materials. A journal with the same name was launched in 1958 and textbooks by Martin Aitken (1961) and Mike Tite (1972) illustrated the full potential of emerging applications. In 1974, the first volume of another periodical dedicated to scientific work in archaeology (Journal of Archaeological Science) was published. 

Chapter 1 identified source attribution of archaeological materials as one of the most important areas of scientific analysis. This chapter focuses on one of... 

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