Advances of X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy Applications in Archaeology, Art and Cultural Heritage

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystallography and Physical Chemistry of Minerals & Nanominerals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 July 2022) | Viewed by 7350

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Physics Department, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, P.O. Box 10 011, CEP 86057-979, Londrina, PR, Brazil
Interests: archaeometry; cultural heritage objects; material characterization; portable systems; X-ray fluorescence; Raman spectroscopy; X-ray microtomography; gamma-ray spectrometry

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Guest Editor
Nuclear Physics Department, Physics Institute, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão Nr.1371, CEP 05508-090, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, Brazil
Interests: cultural heritage objects; archaeometry; ion beam analysis; elemental and composition analysis; mobile laboratory

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

X-ray fluorescence has long been one of the main methodologies employed in archaeometry, and for the study of art and cultural heritage objects. X-ray fluorescence analyses in its various forms, such as EDXRF, TXRF, WDXRF, pXRF, macroXRF, microXRF, etc., allow the study and characterization of materials present in objects. XRF has been widely used alone, as the main methodology, or together with other techniques such as Raman, FTIR, MEV-EDS, etc., allowing a wide multi-analytical study. Today, analyses using MA-XRF also help elementary distribution identification of different objects. Recent developments and studies of cultural heritage materials are invited to this Special Edition of Minerals.

Prof. Dr. Carlos Roberto Appoloni
Prof. Dr. Márcia de Almeida Rizzutto
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • archaeometry
  • works of art
  • cultural heritage
  • X-ray fluorescence material characterization

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4734 KiB  
Article
Study of Ancient Pottery from the Brazilian Amazon Coast by EDXRF, PIXE, XRD, Mössbauer Spectroscopy and Computed Radiography
by Renato Akio Ikeoka, Carlos Roberto Appoloni, Rosa Bernstein Scorzelli, Edivaldo dos Santos, Marcia de Almeida Rizzutto and Arkley Marques Bandeira
Minerals 2022, 12(10), 1302; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12101302 - 16 Oct 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1825
Abstract
This paper presents the application of five analytical methods to analyze ceramic fragments excavated in the archaeological sites of Sambaqui do Bacanga (SB), Sambaqui da Panaquatira (SP), and Rabo de Porco (RP) located on the Brazilian Amazon coast. It is a region that [...] Read more.
This paper presents the application of five analytical methods to analyze ceramic fragments excavated in the archaeological sites of Sambaqui do Bacanga (SB), Sambaqui da Panaquatira (SP), and Rabo de Porco (RP) located on the Brazilian Amazon coast. It is a region that presents evidence of one of the oldest ceramic productions in the Americas. Characterization of ceramics from the three sites led to the identification of the production processes, technological acquisition and choices, and the origin of the raw materials. The analytical methods employed in this study were EDXRF, PIXE, Mössbauer spectroscopy, XRD, and computed radiography. It was concluded through the Mössbauer and XRD Spectroscopy analyses that the firing temperature range used on the ceramics was 750–900 °C, performed in an oxidizing environment. Fragments from the three archaeological sites were grouped into two groups through multivariate statistical analysis. The first group was composed of SB and SP samples, and the second of RP samples, indicating that different groups were manufactured with different clays. The result of the cluster analysis indicates that the clay used in the manufacture of the RP site fragments came from the bank of the Bacanga River. The ceramic fragments’ internal structures, observed by computed radiography, revealed the presence of various sizes and types of temper in the fragments, showing different production technologies. Full article
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19 pages, 4854 KiB  
Article
Some Notes on Dense Structures Present in Archaeological Plant Remains: X-ray Fluorescence Computed Tomography Applications
by Cristina Marilin Calo, Márcia A. Rizzutto, Carlos A. Pérez, Rogério Machado, Cauê G. Ferreira, Natasha F. Aguero, Laura P. Furquim, Eduardo G. Neves and Francisco A. Pugliese
Minerals 2022, 12(9), 1130; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12091130 - 6 Sep 2022
Viewed by 1763
Abstract
This study describes the composition and provenance of dense bodies or structures present in uncharred plant vestiges recovered at Monte Castelo (6000–700 cal. AP-SW Amazonia). It aimed to disclose some aspects of this plant remains’ interactions with the sedimentary matrix of the site [...] Read more.
This study describes the composition and provenance of dense bodies or structures present in uncharred plant vestiges recovered at Monte Castelo (6000–700 cal. AP-SW Amazonia). It aimed to disclose some aspects of this plant remains’ interactions with the sedimentary matrix of the site over the 200 years (at least) since its initial deposit, from the point of view of the soft tissue mineralization processes. Two specimens were examined using XFCT, X-ray MicroCT, and SEM-EDS techniques to reveal the presence and distribution of Ca, K, Mn, Fe, Ti, Si, S, Cu, Br, Rb, Sr, Zn, and Zr. These attributes were integrated with compositional ED-XRF and XRD measured data from the sedimentary substrate. Results show that some of the chemical elements present in solid bodies and anatomical structures of the plant remains refer to the sedimentary environment, while others have an endogenous origin. These include mainly Rb and Br, which were interpreted as the result of degradation processes of the internal tissues, where they are mainly present. Except Sr and Zr, a portion of all the other elements entered and disperse into the sample structures from the sedimentary substrate. Its presence is attributable to mechanisms such as attachment, diffusion and impregnation through the outermost tissues, where they are mostly concentrated. The composition of most of the dense bodies consists of both endogenous and exogenous elements. Full article
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39 pages, 15555 KiB  
Article
Corded Ware and Contemporary Hunter-Gatherer Pottery from Southeast Lithuania: Technological Insights through Geochemical and Mineralogical Approaches
by Eglė Šatavičė, Gražina Skridlaitė, Inga Grigoravičiūtė-Puronienė, Aivaras Kareiva, Aušra Selskienė, Sergej Suzdalev, Gailė Žalūdienė and Ričardas Taraškevičius
Minerals 2022, 12(8), 1006; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12081006 - 10 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2718
Abstract
A geochemical and mineralogical approach was used to analyze 3rd millennium BCE pottery from Southeast Lithuania that is attributed to the foreign Corded Ware Culture and local hunter-gatherers. SEM-EDS, XRF, XRD, and FTIR were used to study the peculiarities of the pottery and [...] Read more.
A geochemical and mineralogical approach was used to analyze 3rd millennium BCE pottery from Southeast Lithuania that is attributed to the foreign Corded Ware Culture and local hunter-gatherers. SEM-EDS, XRF, XRD, and FTIR were used to study the peculiarities of the pottery and to develop hypotheses about the raw material and technology choices present. The amounts of ten major elements in the bulk and clay matrix compositions (XRF, SEM-EDS) and eleven trace analytes in the bulk compositions (XRF) were compared with the Clarke values and tested to highlight the significance (Mann–Whitney U and Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Tests) of the differences in the elemental quantities between the clay matrix and bulk compositions, and between the lighter and darker clay matrixes. These also revealed the advantage of Ward’s clustering method using the City-block distance of bulk compositions as a tool for inter-correlating ceramics in attributing them to specific communities and locations. The XRD, FTIR, and SEM-EDS mineralogical analyses indicated a predominance of iron-rich illite clay, quartz, and alkali feldspar, in addition to very low to medium firing temperatures. All of the pottery samples consisted of hydromicaceous clay from local Quaternary glacial sediments that contain weathered granitoid fragments. Full article
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