NON-DESTRUCTIVE QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN FINE CERAMICS BY USING A PORTABLE BEAM STABILITY CONTROLLED XRF SPECTROMETER (BSC-XRF)

At the LNS/INFN laboratories of Catania (Italy), in the framework of the Agenzia2000 special project of the Italian CNR, a new portable XRF spectrometer with a beam stability control (the BSC-XRF spectrometer) has been designed and realised (Romano et al. 2004). The system has been used for the quantitative non-destructive determination of some trace elements (Rb, Sr, Y, Zr and Nb) in 10 fine pottery artefacts belonging to the votive deposit of San Francesco in Catania (Italy). Concentrations of Rb, Sr, Y, Zr and Nb have been determined by using a multi-linear regression method developed at the LNS/INFN laboratories (Pappalardo et al. 1995; Gigli et al. 2002; Grasso et al. 2003). Additionally, in order to test the homogeneity of the material composing artefacts, i.e. to test if the non-destructive approach is meaningful for the analyses of fine archaeological pottery, a small portion of the potsherds has been powdered and analysed by using the BSC-XRF system. The comparison between non-destructive and destructive approach is presented and discussed.