ARCHEOLOGICAL ARTIFACTS ANALYSIS, FIELD ANALYSIS OF MAJORS AND TRACE BOTH WITH ONE INSTRUMENT

Portable XRF instrumentation (PXRF) also referred as Hand Held XRF (HH XRF) brings accurate elemental investigation and quantification to the sample. Portable XRF instrumentation has become an accepted technique for field analysis in geological applications in recent years. With the introduction of instruments based on Silicon Drift Detector technology the lighter mineral elements such as Mg, Al, S and P are now possible. This provides the ability to analyze the mineral matrix within which the elements of interest are found. The ability to analyze the matrix provides entirely new information about the composition of the rock and at the same time makes the analysis of the principle elements more accurate. This poster will provide a summary of the capabilities and provide several examples as well as classical obsidian analyisis for sourcing analysis.