Application of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis for Chemical Composition Analysis of Ancient Potteries from Buddhist Sites of Andhra Pradesh: Part I

Abstract

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) using high resolution γ-ray spectrometry was used to determine concentrations of 20 elements in seven clay pottery samples collected from excavated Buddhist sites of four districts of Andhra Pradesh, India. For determining accuracy of the INAA method, two certified reference materials (CRMs) namely SL-1 and Soil-7 obtained from IAEA were analyzed. For establishing the provenance (same or different origin) of pottery samples, Al to Sc concentration ratio as well as statistical cluster analysis was used. For the cluster analysis, concentration values of selected nine elements namely Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Rb, Cs, Ba, and Hf were used. Soil samples from corresponding sites with known origin were analyzed for the validation of provenance methodology adopted in this study. From these analyses, it was observed that both pottery and soil samples under study belong to four different groups. To the best of our knowledge, the provenance studies of these ancient pottery samples are reported for the first time.