scholarly journals A Decade of Portable (Hand-Held) X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer Analysis of Obsidian in the Mediterranean: Many Advantages and Few Limitations

MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (33-34) ◽  
pp. 1769-1784 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Tykot
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Trade And Exchange ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Fluorescence Spectrometer ◽  
Geological Source

ABSTRACTStarting in 2007, a portable, hand-held X-ray fluorescence spectrometer was used to elementally analyze and determine the geological source of obsidian artifacts in the Mediterranean, effectively replacing the instruments used in my previous research studies - INAA, LA-ICP-MS, ED-XRF and an electron microprobe with WDS. Approximately 400 geological obsidian samples from the Mediterranean area, and 8500 obsidian artifacts from prehistoric sites in Italy, France, Croatia, Malta, Tunisia, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt have been analyzed non-destructively by pXRF. Overall, the pXRF can distinguish all of the individual sources, based on the composition of Fe and trace elements Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, and Nb, as well as assign most artifacts to specific subsources and thus addressing archaeological research hypotheses about trade and exchange in many different time periods.

scholarly journals PORTABLE ART OBJECTS DISCOVERED IN THE UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF ROMANIA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.-C. Nitu ◽  
O. Cirstina ◽  
F.-I. Lupu ◽  
M. Leu ◽  
A. Nicolae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Art Objects ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
New Findings ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

scholarly journals PERSONAL ORNAMENTS DISCOVERED IN THE EARLY UPPER PALEOLITHIC OF POIANA CIREȘULUI-PIATRA NEAMȚ (ROMANIA)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.-C. Nitu ◽  
O. Cirstina ◽  
F.-I. Lupu ◽  
M. Leu ◽  
A. Nicolae ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Aesthetic Value ◽  
Use Wear ◽  
New Findings ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Early Upper

In addition to their undeniable aesthetic value, ornaments are the element that may differentiate the various social groups or individuals belonging to certain groups. More specifically, body decoration is closely related to social identity. The ornament, as a form of communication, has a certain advantage over other means of communication because, once displayed, perhaps even more than language itself, the individual wearing it need not make any effort to deliver his/her message, social sta-tus, their belonging to a group etc. The first adornments used during the Paleolithic are beads, while perforated shells are among the earliest examples of this sort. In a few cases, the perforated shells come from species rarely used in the Paleolithic, brought from long distances, in terms of the settlements in which they were found so, apart from individualizing and characterizing a certain group, they may represent important documents regarding migrations over wide areas and even regarding the origin of a culture. This is shown by new discoveries made in an early Gravettian layer at the Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, north-eastern Romania), dated between 30 ka and 31 ka BP (Niu et al., 2019). The ornaments discovered here include a unique association of perforat-ed shells represented by three species of mollusks: Lithoglyphus naticoide, Litho-glyphus apertus and Homalopoma sanguineum (an exclusively Mediterranean spe-cies). This occupation differs from Central and Eastern European Gravettian tradi-tions through the symbolic behavior of the communities, defined by the use of perfo-rated shells of freshwater and marine (Mediterranean origin) mollusk belonging to species very rarely used in the Palaeolithic. Poiana Cireului is one of the very few Gravettian sites where perforated Homalopoma sanguineum shells were found and is the only Gravettian settlement where Lithoglyphus naticoides shells were used. We present the ornaments discovered and the results of analysis performed to identify the perforation methods and the use-wear traces. The presence of a Mediterranean species at the Poiana Cireului settlement located more than 900 km from the nearest source suggests the connection of communities here with the Mediterranean area. In the light of these new findings, the origin and diffusion of the Gravettian from the Mediterranean to the east of the Carpathians are a hypothesis that should be considered. Niu, E.-C., Crciumaru, M., Nicolae, A., Crstina, O., Lupu, F. I., Leu, M. (2019). Mobility and social identity in the Early Upper Palaeolithic: new personal ornaments from Poiana Cireului site (Piatra Neam, Romania). PLOS ONE, 14 (4), e0214932. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214932

U–Pb detrital zircon ages from Gorgoglione Flysch sandstones in Southern Apennines (Italy) as provenance indicators

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annamaria Fornelli ◽  
Salvatore Gallicchio ◽  
Francesca Micheletti ◽  
Antonio Langone
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Mediterranean Area ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Southern Apennines ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Intermediate Part ◽  
Detrital Zircon Ages

Abstract Twenty-one sandstone samples belonging to the intermediate part of Gorgoglione Flysch (GF) dated Middle-Miocene, cropping out in the Southern Apennines (Italy), have been studied to highlight the detritus provenance. Petrographic and chemical composition indicates that the successions consist of feldspatho-quartzose and litho-feldspatho-quartzose arenites interbedded with pelitic and calciclastic layers and reveals a provenance from a basement formed by low- to medium-grade metamorphic rocks with abundant granitoids covered by sedimentary rocks in which a volcanic component was also present. In the Mediterranean area, basements with these characteristics are widespread both in western and southwestern domains. The supply provenance of Gorgoglione Flysch has been better detailed utilizing U–Pb detrital zircon ages recording the geological history of the source rocks. Fifty-eight crystals from six samples of coarse- and fine-grained sandstones have been analysed using the U–Pb isotopic systematic (LA-ICP-MS). They produce 70 concordant zircon ages forming three defined clusters at 672 ± 28 Ma, 458 ± 9 Ma and 297 ± 8 Ma, and four zircon ages corresponding to 24 ± 1 Ma. An evaluation of the entire collected data suggests that the provenance area is better identified in northwestern sectors of the Mediterranean area in which the Sardinia–Corsica (pro-part) block plays a fundamental role.

scholarly journals Szacowanie ilości materii organicznej na podstawie zawartości pierwiastków śladowych

Nafta-Gaz ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-226
Author(s):  
Anna Przelaskowska ◽  
◽  
Urszula Zagórska ◽  
Maja Mroczkowska-Szerszeń ◽  
Konrad Ziemianin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Total Organic Carbon ◽  
Black Shales ◽  
Drilling Process ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Fluorescence Spectrometer

Many trace elements are associated with organic matter. The total organic carbon (TOC) content can be thus calculated basing on the chemical composition measurements. The aim of the presented paper was to evaluate the possibility of estimating the organic matter amount on the basis of trace elements such as: Ni, Cu, Mo, U, V, Zn, Cr, Sr, Pb and Co, for Silurian black shales. Correlations between individual elements and total organic carbon were analysed. Next, mathematical models allowing to calculate the amount of organic matter based on the content of elements significantly related to TOC were constructed. Both more accurate chemical composition analyses (ICP-MS mass spectrometry method) and measurements of lower detectability performed with portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer EDXRF were used. The relationships between the content of trace elements and the total organic carbon content TOC were found for such elements as: V, Cu, U, Ni, Mo, Cr (ICP-MS) and V, Cu , Cr and Ni (XRF). Mathematical models allowing for TOC quantification based on trace elements, characterized by determination coefficients R2 from 0.84 to 0.92 (for ICP MS method) and from 0.75 to 0.78 (for XRF method) were obtained with the use of the multiple regression method. The mathematical models allow to calculate the content of organic matter TOC for Silurian black shales on the basis of trace element data obtained by both mass spectrometry ICP-MS and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry EDXRF. The possibility of using measurements made with a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer is particularly important. Such measurements are fast and can be carried out on cuttings during the drilling process. Models based on XRF results therefore allow for quick modelling of the TOC content during the drilling process.

A Medieval Burial from Graham Street, Leith, Edinburgh

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-169
Author(s):  
Paul R. J. Duffy ◽  
Olivia Lelong
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Information ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Housing Development ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Excavation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Physical Evidence ◽  
Research Division ◽  
The North ◽  
The Individual

Summary An archaeological excavation was carried out at Graham Street, Leith, Edinburgh by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (GUARD) as part of the Historic Scotland Human Remains Call-off Contract following the discovery of human remains during machine excavation of a foundation trench for a new housing development. Excavation demonstrated that the burial was that of a young adult male who had been interred in a supine position with his head orientated towards the north. Radiocarbon dates obtained from a right tibia suggest the individual died between the 15th and 17th centuries AD. Little contextual information exists in documentary or cartographic sources to supplement this scant physical evidence. Accordingly, it is difficult to further refine the context of burial, although a possible link with a historically attested siege or a plague cannot be discounted.

X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer with Geometry of Grazing Incidence X-ray Radiation

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-82
Author(s):  
N.M. Novikovskii ◽  
◽  
V.M. Raznomazov ◽  
V.O. Ponomarenko ◽  
D.A. Sarychev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grazing Incidence ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Fluorescence Spectrometer

Hingganite-(Nd), Nd2□Be2Si2O8(OH)2, a new gadolinite-supergroup mineral from Zagi Mountain, Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 549-562
Author(s):  
Anatoly V. Kasatkin ◽  
Fabrizio Nestola ◽  
Radek Škoda ◽  
Nikita V. Chukanov ◽  
Atali A. Agakhanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mineral ◽  
Monoclinic Space Group ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Average Chemical Composition ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Conchoidal Fracture ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Optical Axes ◽  
Mohs Hardness ◽  
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province

ABSTRACT Hingganite-(Nd), ideally Nd2□Be2Si2O8(OH)2, is a new gadolinite group, gadolinite supergroup mineral discovered at Zagi Mountain, near Kafoor Dheri, about 4 km S of Warsak and 30 km NW of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The new mineral forms zones measuring up to 1 × 1 mm2 in loose prismatic crystals up to 0.7 cm long, where it is intergrown with hingganite-(Y). Other associated minerals include aegirine, microcline, fergusonite-(Y), and zircon. Hingganite-(Nd) is dark greenish-brown, transparent, has vitreous luster and a white streak. It is brittle and has a conchoidal fracture. No cleavage or parting are observed. Mohs hardness is 5½–6. Dcalc. = 4.690 g/cm3. Hingganite-(Nd) is non-pleochroic, optically biaxial (+), α = 1.746(5), β = 1.766(5), γ = 1.792(6) (589 nm). 2Vmeas. = 80(7)°; 2Vcalc. = 84°. Dispersion of optical axes was not observed. The average chemical composition of hingganite-(Nd) is as follows (wt.%; electron microprobe, BeO, B2O3, and Lu2O3 content measured by LA-ICP-MS; H2O calculated by stoichiometry): BeO 9.64, CaO 0.45, MnO 0.10, FeO 3.03, B2O3 0.42, Y2O3 8.75, La2O3 1.63, Ce2O3 12.89, Pr2O3 3.09, Nd2O3 16.90, Sm2O3 5.97, Eu2O3 1.08, Gd2O3 5.15, Tb2O3 0.50, Dy2O3 2.50, Ho2O3 0.33, Er2O3 0.84, Tm2O3 0.10, Yb2O3 0.44, Lu2O3 0.04, ThO2 0.13, SiO2 23.55, H2O 2.72, total 100.25. The empirical formula calculated on the basis of 2 Si apfu is (Nd0.513Ce0.401Y0.395Sm0.175Gd0.145Pr0.096Dy0.068La0.051Ca0.041Eu0.031Er0.022Tb0.014Yb0.011Ho0.009Tm0.003Th0.003Lu0.001)Σ1.979(□0.778Fe2+0.215Mn0.007)Σ1.000(Be1.967B0.062)Σ2.029Si2O8.46(OH)1.54. Hingganite-(Nd) is monoclinic, space group P21/c with a = 4.77193(15), b = 7.6422(2), c = 9.9299(2) Å, β = 89.851(2)°, V = 362.123(14) Å3, and Z = 2. The strongest lines of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d, Å (I, %) (hkl)] are: 6.105 (95) (011), 4.959 (56) (002), 4.773 (100) (100), 3.462 (58) (102), 3.122 , 3.028 (61) (013), 2.864 (87) (121), 2.573 (89) (113). The crystal structure of hingganite-(Nd) was refined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to R = 0.034 for 2007 unique reflections with I > 2σ(I). The new mineral is named as an analogue of hingganite-(Y), hingganite-(Yb), and hingganite-(Ce), but with Nd dominant among the rare earth elements.

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