Although XRF has been widely used to measure elemental concentrations in solid samples, calibration is matrix dependent and can be challenging.   Using a commercial XRF instrument with a built-in �soils mode� calibration, the ability of the instrument to accurately and precisely measure elemental concentrations in different pottery samples and standards was examined.  Standard reference materials were analyzed to determine the accuracy of the method. Clays of known composition (five total) were prepared using recipes chosen to provide a wide range of matrices and elemental concentrations.  Three premade clays were also purchased to further broaden this range.  Each clay component was analyzed individually, and the expected elemental composition of the mixed clay was calculated for each recipe.  These compositions were found to be consistent with the concentrations obtained by XRF analysis for the mixed clay.  To further examine some possible uncertainties or errors introduced when analyzing real world samples, the impact of sample thickness and curvature were also investigated.  Samples with thicknesses ranging from 0.4cm-1.75cm were prepared for each clay and analyzed.  In addition, samples from three of the recipes were molded over spheres of radii varying from 26 to 86 mm and then analyzed.  No systematic error was detected as the variation across thickness ranges and curvatures was found in most cases to be less than 5%, and no apparent pattern of deviation were observed.  This data shows that the instrument can be used to analyze real world pottery samples with the precision and accuracy needed for provenance studies.

Characterization of an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) system for the elemental analysis of pottery samples

246th National Meeting (2013)

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