Speaker
Prof.
M. Isabel Dias
(Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, CAMPUS TECNOLÓGICO E NUCLEAR, INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO)
Description
Beads appear to have been one of the earliest examples of personal adornments. The analyzed beads come from Pit 40, a funerary secondary deposition of cremated remains of more than a hundred individuals. The pit is located in the center of Perdigões (Évora, Portugal) ditched enclosures and is dated from the third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC. The beads were burned and were part of the funerary votive assemblages, also composed by arrowheads ivory figurines, marble idols and pots, phalanx idols, copper awls, Pecten shells and pottery sherds. These beads have between 5 and 10.5 mm in diameter, with a central perforation up to 5 mm and maximum thickness of 3 mm, they are gray or black and of unknown nature.
We report the use of prompt-gamma activation analysis (PGAA), external milli-beam particle induced X-ray emission spectroscopy (PIXE) and high-resolution time-of-flight diffractometer (ToF-ND) at the Budapest Neutron Centre, to a large dataset demonstrating that composition can help on identification of beads nature by using non-destructive techniques. Infrared spectroscopic measurements were also performed on some beads. In one broken bead a micro-destructive - Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (SEM/EDX) analysis was applied at IST.
Among the chemical elements obtained by PGAA, calcium (53%
Primary author
Prof.
M. Isabel Dias
(Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares, CAMPUS TECNOLÓGICO E NUCLEAR, INSTITUTO SUPERIOR TÉCNICO)
Co-authors
Dr
A. C. VALERA
(Era Arqueologia, Núcleo de Investigação Arqueológica – NIA. Cç. de Santa Catarina, 9C, 1495-705 Cruz Quebrada – Dafundo – Portugal. Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArHEB, Universidade do Algarve, Campo de Gambelas, Faro, Portugal)
Dr
György Káli
(Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.)
Dr
I. Harsányi
(Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary)
Dr
I. Kovács
(Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.)
Dr
J. Mihaly
(Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. H-1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2)
Prof.
M. Isabel PRUDÊNCIO
(Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares – C2TN. Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear. Instituto Superior Técnico, Polo de Loures. Estrada Nacional 10 (km 139.7). 2695-066 Bobadela, Loures, Portugal)
Prof.
Z. Szőkefalvi-Nagy
(Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.)
Dr
Zs. Kasztovszky
(Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary)
