Speaker
Dr
Bogdan Constantinescu
(National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, Bucharest – 077125, ROMANIA)
Description
Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) is a perfect tool to determine the bulk elemental concentrations of valuable artefacts, without the destruction of the objects. PGAA was applied at the Budapest Neutron Centre to determine the bulk elemental composition for obsidian archaeological samples from Romanian museums.
Archaeological obsidian items especially from Transylvania and geological samples were analyzed to determine the provenance of material used for Neolithic tools. The raw material supposed to originate mainly from Carpathian 1 and Carpathian 2 sources in the Tokaj Mountains. Reference data of previously measured geological material (Kasztovszky et al., 2008) have been used for comparison Concentrations of major components H, Na, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, Mn and Fe as well as the trace elements of B, Cl, Sm and Gd were used to discriminate between geological sources.
The authors would acknowledge the support from the CHARISMA and IPERION CH projects of the EC.
References
Kasztovszky, Zs., T. Biró, K., Markó, A., Dobosi, V., 2008, Cold neutron prompt gamma activation analysis – a non-destructive method for characterisation of high silica content chipped stone tools and raw materials, Archaeometry, 50, 1, 12-29.
Primary author
Dr
Bogdan Constantinescu
(National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, Bucharest – 077125, ROMANIA)
Co-authors
Dr
Daniela Stan
(National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, Bucharest – 077125, ROMANIA)
Dr
Ildikó Harsányi
(Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest H-1121, HUNGARY)
Dr
Zsolt Kasztovszky
(Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest H-1121, HUNGARY)
