Provenance study of Amerindian pottery figurines with Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis

• Autorzy: Kasztovszky Z. , Mackowiak de Antczak M. , Antczak A. , Millan B. , Bermúdez J. , Sajo-Bohus L.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

A Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) facility has been in operation at the Budapest Neutron Centre (BNC) since 1996. Nonetheless that PGAA is a relatively new method, its applicability to archeological research has already been established by several studies. Archaeologists of the Simón Bolívar University initiated a research project aimed to perform a provenance study of pre-Hispanic pottery figurines. Forty samples were selected from two archaeological sites excavated in the Los Roques Archipelago. Almost five hundred figurines have been recovered altogether in four sites of the Archipelago. Amerindian groups from the adjacent Venezuela mainland were identified as island sites' occupants, between A.D. 1200 and the European contact period. Forty fragments of figurines were investigated by PGAA, the concentrations of major- and some trace components being determined. Among others, K2O, Cl and Cr were found to be the most significant indicators of the samples originated from the Lake Valencia Basin (mainland) and from Los Roques Islands. By relating the island figurines to their stylistical and chemical counterparts from the mainland we will provide chronological information on hundreds of mainland figurines.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

pre-Hispanic culture; pottery; non-destructive analysis; PGAA

• Wydawca: Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology
• Czasopismo: Nukleonika
• Rocznik: 2004
• Tom: Vol. 49, nr 3
• Strony: 107--113
• Opis fizyczny: Bibliogr. 12 poz., rys.

Twórcy

autor

Kasztovszky Z.

• Department of Nuclear Research, Institute of Isotopes, Chemical Research Centre, H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly Thege 29-33, Hungary, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone]

autor

Mackowiak de Antczak M.

• Universidad Simón Bolívar, P. O. Box 89000, Caracas 1080A, Venezuela

autor

Antczak A.

• Universidad Simón Bolívar, P. O. Box 89000, Caracas 1080A, Venezuela

autor

Millan B.

• Universidad Simón Bolívar, P. O. Box 89000, Caracas 1080A, Venezuela

autor

Bermúdez J.

• Universidad Simón Bolívar, P. O. Box 89000, Caracas 1080A, Venezuela

autor

Sajo-Bohus L.

• Universidad Simón Bolívar, P. O. Box 89000, Caracas 1080A, Venezuela

Bibliografia

• 1. Antczak A (1999) Late prehistoric economy and society of the Islands off the coast of Venezuela: A contextual interpretation of the non-ceramic evidence. Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University of London, UK
• 2. Antczak A, Mackowiak de Antczak M (1999) La Esfera de Interacción Valencioide en El Arte Prehispánico de Venezuela. In: Arroyo M, Blanco L, Wagner E (eds) Caracas, Fundación Galería de Arte Nacional, pp 136−154
• 3. Ehmann WD, Vance DE (1991) Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear activation methods. In: Winefordner JD (ed.) Radiochemistry and nuclear methods of analysis. Wiley Interscience Publication, New York, pp 255−258
• 4. Kasztovszky Zs, Révay Zs, Belgya T, Molnár GL (2000) Nondestructive analysis of metals by PGAA at the Budapest Research Reactor. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 224;2:379−382
• 5. Mackowiak de Antczak M (2000) ‘Idols’ in exile: Making sense of prehistoric human pottery figurines from Dos Mosquises Island, Los Roques Archipelago, Venezuela. Ph.D. dissertation. Institute of Archaeology, University of London, UK
• 6. Mackowiak de Antczak M, Kasztovszky Zs, Révay Zs et al. (2002) Characterisation of pre-Columbian artefacts from Venezuela using PGAA. In: Ujvari S, Sajo-Bohus L (eds) Proc of the 2nd Int Radiation Education Symp, 21−24 August 2002, Debrecen, Hungary, pp 71−78
• 7. Peacock DPS (1970) The scientific analysis of ancien ceramics. A review. World Archaeology 1:375−389
• 8. Perry DL, Firestone RB, Molnár GL et al. (2002) Neutroninduced prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) of metals and non-metals in ocean floor vent-generated samples. J Anal At Spectrom 17:32−37
• 9. Révay Zs, Begya T, Ember PP, Molnár GL (2001) Recent developments in HYPERMET PC. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 248:401−405
• 10. Révay Zs, Belgya T, Kasztovszky Zs, Weil JL, Molnár GL (2004) Cold neutron PGAA facility at Budapest. Nucl Instrum Meth B 213:385−388
• 11. Révay Zs, Molnár GL (2003) Standardisation of the prompt gamma activation analysis method. Radiochim Acta 91:361−369
• 12. Rice PM (1987) Pottery analysis: A sourcebook. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London