Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography
Archaeometric investigation of ancient pottery with regard to their material composites allows insights into the material structures, production techniques and manufacturing processes. The applied methods depend on the classification of the pottery: some finds should remain unchanged for conservatio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Minerals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/10/931 |
| _version_ | 1797550256506798080 |
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| author | Julia Menne Astrid Holzheid Christopher Heilmann |
| author_facet | Julia Menne Astrid Holzheid Christopher Heilmann |
| author_sort | Julia Menne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Archaeometric investigation of ancient pottery with regard to their material composites allows insights into the material structures, production techniques and manufacturing processes. The applied methods depend on the classification of the pottery: some finds should remain unchanged for conservation reasons, other finds are less valuable or more common. While the first group cannot be destroyed for material analyses and the choice of analytical methods is limited, the latter can be investigated using destructive methods and thus can widen the spectrum of possible devices. Multi-element analyses of portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (portable XRF) have become important for archaeological research, as portable XRF provides a quick overview about the chemical composition of potteries and can be used in non-destructive as well as destructive ways in addition to conventional microscopic examination and petrographic thin sections. While most portable XRF analyses of solely fracture surfaces do not provide satisfying results, portable XRF analyses on pulverized samples are a cost-efficient and fast alternative to wavelength-dispersive XRF (WD-XRF). In comparison to WD-XRF, portable XRF on pulverized samples provides reliable concentration data (K, Fe, Rb, Ti, V, Y, Zn, Zr), but other elements need to be corrected. X-ray microtomography (µCT) has proven to be a non-destructive technique to derive not only the porosity of ancient pottery but also to characterize temper components and non-plastic inclusions. Hence, the µCT technique has the potential to extract valuable information needed by archaeologists, for example, to deduce details about manufacturing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:26:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9858ca9c97a7431aaff0d529d7df3cf3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-163X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:26:44Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Minerals |
| spelling | doaj.art-9858ca9c97a7431aaff0d529d7df3cf32023-11-20T18:01:58ZengMDPI AGMinerals2075-163X2020-10-01101093110.3390/min10100931Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer TomographyJulia Menne0Astrid Holzheid1Christopher Heilmann2Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Geosciences, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Geosciences, Kiel University, 24118 Kiel, GermanyArchaeometric investigation of ancient pottery with regard to their material composites allows insights into the material structures, production techniques and manufacturing processes. The applied methods depend on the classification of the pottery: some finds should remain unchanged for conservation reasons, other finds are less valuable or more common. While the first group cannot be destroyed for material analyses and the choice of analytical methods is limited, the latter can be investigated using destructive methods and thus can widen the spectrum of possible devices. Multi-element analyses of portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (portable XRF) have become important for archaeological research, as portable XRF provides a quick overview about the chemical composition of potteries and can be used in non-destructive as well as destructive ways in addition to conventional microscopic examination and petrographic thin sections. While most portable XRF analyses of solely fracture surfaces do not provide satisfying results, portable XRF analyses on pulverized samples are a cost-efficient and fast alternative to wavelength-dispersive XRF (WD-XRF). In comparison to WD-XRF, portable XRF on pulverized samples provides reliable concentration data (K, Fe, Rb, Ti, V, Y, Zn, Zr), but other elements need to be corrected. X-ray microtomography (µCT) has proven to be a non-destructive technique to derive not only the porosity of ancient pottery but also to characterize temper components and non-plastic inclusions. Hence, the µCT technique has the potential to extract valuable information needed by archaeologists, for example, to deduce details about manufacturing.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/10/931X-ray microtomographyportable XRFWD-XRFarchaeometryceramicNeolithic |
| spellingShingle | Julia Menne Astrid Holzheid Christopher Heilmann Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography Minerals X-ray microtomography portable XRF WD-XRF archaeometry ceramic Neolithic |
| title | Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography |
| title_full | Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography |
| title_fullStr | Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography |
| title_short | Multi-Scale Measurements of Neolithic Ceramics—A Methodological Comparison of Portable Energy-Dispersive XRF, Wavelength-Dispersive XRF, and Microcomputer Tomography |
| title_sort | multi scale measurements of neolithic ceramics a methodological comparison of portable energy dispersive xrf wavelength dispersive xrf and microcomputer tomography |
| topic | X-ray microtomography portable XRF WD-XRF archaeometry ceramic Neolithic |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/10/10/931 |
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