Table Of ContentEBOOKS X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry D
O MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION
FOR THE and Its Applications to Archaeology N
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AND ANALYSIS COLLECTION
ENGINEERING IS
An Illustrated Guide •
LIBRARY G C. Richard Brundle, Editor
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Create your own Mary Kate Donais • David B. George R
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This book serves as a practical guide for applications of X-ray fluores-
Bundle — the more
cence spectrometry, a nondestructive elemental analysis technique,
books you buy,
to the study and understanding of archaeology. Descriptions of XRF
the higher your
theory and instrumentation and an introduction to field applications and
discount!
practical aspects of archaeology provide new users to XRF and/or new
to archaeology with a solid foundation on which to base further study.
THE CONTENT
Considering recent trends within field archaeology, information
• Manufacturing specific to portable instrumentation also is provided. Discussions of X
Engineering -R X-Ray Fluorescence
qualitative and quantitative approaches and applications of statistical a
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• Mechanical methods relate back to types of archaeological questions answerable F
& Chemical lu
through XRF analysis. Numerous examples, figures, and spectra from the o Spectrometry and
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Engineering e
authors’ field work are provided including chapters specific to pigments, s
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• Materials Science e
ceramics, glass, construction materials, and metallurgical materials. n
& Engineering ce Its Applications to
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• Civil & Mary Kate Donais earned her BS (Bucknell University) and PhD p
e
Environmental (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) in chemistry. Following positions c Archaeology
t
r
Engineering in government and industry, she joined the faculty at Saint Anselm o
m
• Electrical College where she is currently a professor in the chemistry department. e
t
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Engineering Dr Donais’ research focus is on applications of atomic spectroscopy and y a An Illustrated Guide
n
portable instrumentation, especially in the field of archaeology. She is d
THE TERMS actively involved with the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS) and It
s
• Perpetual access for FACSS, and is a member of the Society for Archaeological Sciences. Ap
p
a one time fee Dr Donais is a fellow of the SAS and the Royal Society of Chemistry. lic
a
• No subscriptions or t
David B. George earned his BA in art history and archaeology (Univer- io
access fees n
• Unlimited sity of Missouri-Columbia) and his PhD in classical studies (The Ohio s to
State University). He is currently a professor and chair of classics at Saint A
concurrent usage
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Anselm College. Dr George teaches courses in classical languages as c
• Downloadable PDFs h
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well as classical archaeology. He has done archaeological work in Greece e
• Free MARC records o Mary Kate Donais
and Italy and currently directs excavations in and around Orvieto, Italy. lo
g
Dr George has published widely on topics from Greek tragedy to Latin y
For further information,
David B. George
Epic as well as aspects of Greek and Roman archaeology. He has been on
a free trial, or to order,
contact: the History Channel in a number of documentaries such as the “Battles
[email protected] BC” series.
ISBN: 978-1-94474-929-3
X-RAY
FLUORESCENCE
SPECTROMETRY AND
ITS APPLICATIONS TO
ARCHAEOLOGY
X-RAY
FLUORESCENCE
SPECTROMETRY AND
ITS APPLICATIONS TO
ARCHAEOLOGY
A I G
n llustrAted uIde
MARY KATE DONAIS AND
DAVID B. GEORGE
MOMENTUM PRESS, LLC, NEW YORK
X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry and Its Applications to Archaeology
Copyright © Momentum Press®, LLC, 2018.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for
brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
First published by Momentum Press®, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.momentumpress.net
ISBN-13: 978-1-94474-929-3 (print)
ISBN-13: 978-1-94474-930-9 (e-book)
Momentum Press Materials Characterization and Analysis Collection
Collection ISSN: 2377-4347 (print)
Collection ISSN: 2377-4355 (electronic)
Cover and interior design by Exeter Premedia Services Private Ltd.,
Chennai, India
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
d
edIcAtIon
From Mary Kate Donais: For my father, Roy, for his encouragement and
guidance at the early stages of my scientific career. And for my husband,
Craig, for his support and patience so I can continue to pursue my passions
as a scientist, researcher, and educator.
From David B. George: For Linda who puts up with much and with-
out whom not much would get done.
From both authors: We would like to thank our colleague Prof. Sarah
Glenn of the Saint Anselm College Philosophy Department for editing the
manuscript and making many suggestions. She is the consummate philos-
opher and scholar with interests in many things in her quest to figure out
what the nature of the universe is and how we should behave in it.
A
bstrAct
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is a nondestructive elemen-
tal analysis technique utilized in many industrial and research settings.
Developments in instrument components and design have allowed appli-
cations of XRF spectrometry to expand beyond the laboratory and into
field settings such as museums and archaeological excavation sites.
This book serves as a practical guide for the application of XRF
spectrometry to the study and understanding of archaeology. Early chap-
ters serve as both an introduction to XRF theory and instrumentation
as well as an introduction to field applications and practical aspects of
archaeology and conservation. These early chapters thus provide those
new to XRF and/or new to field archaeology a solid foundation on which
to base further study. Based on recent trends within field archaeology,
information specific to portable instrumentation also is included in early
chapters in addition to a later separate chapter devoted to data collec-
tion in the field including both field labs and archaeological sites. The
chapter devoted to data discusses qualitative and quantitative approaches,
applications of various statistical methods to XRF data, and then relates
these data types and statistical methods back to the types of archaeo-
logical questions that are possible to answer through XRF analysis.
With statistics playing an ever-increasing role in data evaluation, new
and experienced users of XRF spectrometry will find the statistics over-
view particularly helpful in expanding how data can be interpreted
and presented. The book concludes with individual chapters devoted
to specific archaeological sample types including pigments, ceramics,
glass, construction materials, and metallurgical materials. Each of these
material-specific chapters includes a section relating that material type
back to the archaeology itself. Numerous examples, figures, and spectra
are provided within these chapters.
viii • AbstrAct
KEYWOrDs
atomic spectroscopy, cultural heritage, elemental analysis, Etruscan cul-
tural material, excavation, field archaeology, materials characterization,
Roman material culture, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, XRF
c
ontents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xv
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xxi
1 Theory and Basic Principles 1
1.1 X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry 1
1.2 Field Applications in Archaeology 8
2 Instrumentation 13
2.1 Instrument Fundamentals 13
2.2 Wavelength Dispersive Instruments 19
2.3 Energy Dispersive Instruments 20
2.4 Portable Instruments 21
2.5 Micro X-Ray Fluorescence Instruments 22
2.6 Other Instrument Considerations 23
2.7 Safety 24
2.8 Practical Aspects for Archaeology and Conservation 24
References 24
3 Data Collection 27
3.1 Introduction 27
3.2 Samples and Sample Preparation 27
3.3 Instrument Considerations 30
3.4 Instrument Parameters 32
3.5 Specifics Related to Archaeology 33
References 35
4 Considerations for Data Collection in the Field 37
4.1 Introduction 37
4.2 Protocols 38
