Quantitative PIXE analysis of powdered pottery samples bound in an organic matrix

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Abstract

We have developed a method for preparing thin samples (about 1 mg/cm2) of pottery powder by the centrifugal precipitation technique, using an organic binder (collodion). We measure accurately the amount of organic material in the samples by the p-p reaction. With this information, a good quantitative determination of the elemental composition of the samples by PIXE analysis is achieved. The sensitivity, accuracy and reproducibility of our method were verified by measuring the composition of several samples prepared with the standard pottery of Permian and Asaro. The abundances of 12 elements (from 1% to about 10 ppm) of Z ⩾ 22 have been determined with 3 MeV incident protons. The reproducibility and accuracy are very satisfactory.

We have undertaken a systematic study of a collection of ceramic shards originating from Western Africa. The abundances of 18 elements of Z ⩾ 21 have been determined. The effect of the inhomogeneity of the ceramic composition is reflected in a fluctuation of the elemental composition of our samples.

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