Mineral and Chemical Composition Analysis of Iron Sand Around Mt.Aburayama by X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry and X-Ray Diffractometry

Abstract

The northern region of Kyushu abounds with iron manufacturing sites estimated to have originated from the late sixth century to the early seventh century. These may be the oldest among Japanese iron manufacturing sites. The area around Mt. Aburayama (Fukuoka, Japan), located to the south of Fukuoka University, also has some iron manufacturing sites that probably have originated from the same period as the above-mentioned sites have. However, archeological iron artifacts found in this area are seldom researched. Thus, the origin of the raw material is unclear. Mt. Aburayama is mainly composed of granite that contains abundant iron sand. Therefore, it is possible that iron sand collected from Mt. Aburayama was used as a raw material for iron products in ancient times. In this study, the iron sands collected from river sands around Mt. Aburayama were characterized by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). In addition, the geology of the sampling spots was estimated using XRF and XRD results of the river sands.