PIXE cluster analysis of ancient ceramics from North Syria

Abstract

Tell Ahmar is a place situated on the east bank of the Euphrates river, near the Turkish border. The site was well known as a major trade centre in the Iron Age. From the many potsherds excavated from the site, it is necessary to distinguish pottery imported from outside from that made locally. Therefore a sample of the Iron Age potsherds that were excavated from this site was analyzed with particle induced X-ray emission to identify the characteristic composition of the different sherds. Potsherds from four other places near Tell Ahmar were also analyzed. The samples were irradiated with a scanned 3 MeV proton beam in the Melbourne nuclear microprobe. The composition of all sherds measured ..