Abstract: This paper is a statistical and geological study of the results of analysis of flint from British and West European flint mines, carried out by emission and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Groups of flint specimens were studied from each geographically separate flint mining area. Flints were analysed for a group of easily measured trace elements shown by previous work to be generally present. The ratios between the trace elements form a consistent pattern for each flint mine and statistically valid differences of pattern can be recognized between different flint mines. A geological investigation shows that the measured trace elements may be derived from clay minerals and explains geographical and statistical variation in the composition of flint in terms of its mode of origin in the chalk. An advanced statistical technique allows individual flint specimens of unknown origin to be attributed by their composition to one or other of the identified flint sources. The archaeological implications of this study are discussed.

Abstract: Frequency distributions of the lengths of the bone fragments are plotted for a number of archaeological sites. Down to a certain critical length, the distributions prove to be very similar for all the sites. Below this length, failure to recover fragments during excavation becomes the predominant factor and the frequencies decline. Distributions of diagnostic bones of sheep/goat, pig and cattle are plotted separately and the preferential recovery of the bones of larger animals is demonstrated. A method is suggested for using data from water-sieved sites to estimate and correct the effect of this preferential recovery on the figures for the relative proportions of different species at unsieved sites.

Abstract: A method is described for the identification of the origin of flint artefacts. The method is based on the variation in the trace element concentrations for different origins. The trace element concentrations were determined by non-destructive neutron activation analysis. The identification was obtained from a pattern recognition analysis.

Abstract: SUMMARY OF RESULTS Three basic results emerge from the study of ceramic raw materials in Quinua, Peru. First of all, a substantial amount of mineralogical variability exists in these materials. Secondly, plastic minerals and non-plastic materials occur in both clays and tempers. The difference between the clays and tempers is the relative amount of plastics or non-plastics present. Thirdly, all of the paints consist of mineral pigments and all contain the clay mineral montmorillonitc -a material known for its superior spreading qualities. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS The results of the analyses have several implications for the archaeologist. First of all, it shows the diversity of sources and mineralogical variability of ceramic materials which occur in the east central portion of the Ayacucho Basin near the ancient site of Huari. At this point, we do not know whether ancient potters used these sources to obtain materials for producing the Ayacucho pottery which Perlman and Asaro (1969) analyzed. Nevertheless, one can make two generalizations about the area from the present data.

Abstract: Since the location of buried features on archaeological sites using magnetic prospecting techniques depends on the enhanced magnetic susceptibility of soils (i.e. topsoil, pit and ditch fillings) compared to subsoil, it is important to understand the factors which deter- mine the extent of the enhancement on any given site. Le Borgne (1955, 1960) established that the enhancement of susceptibility is due to the conversion of the iron oxides in the soil from the weakly ferrimagnetic form, haematite, to the strongly ferrimagnetic form, maghaemite; the conversion proceeding via reduction to magnetite followed by re-oxidation to maghaemite. He further showed that the cumulative effect of fires on the soil provided the primary mechanism for this conversion. Tite and Mullins (1971) confirmed by laboratory experiments that heating soils in nitrogen-then-air at temperatures greater than

Abstract: Specimens of flint from English and Continentai prehistoric factory/mine sites have been analysed using neutron activation and element compositions compared. The possible use of element concentration patterns as a means of characterising such sites is discussed.

Abstract: In a pilot-programme to increase evidence for the history of copper-alloying in ancient Iraq, Syria and Palestine 128 objects in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, were tested with a point-source linear X-ray spectrometer for tin, arsenic and antimony. These analyses showed the gradual introduction of tin-copper alloys into Iraq after ca. 2750 b.c. (Early Dynastic IIIA), into Syria a little later and into Palestine by the end of the third millennium b.c., though numerous artefacts continue to be of copper or arsenical-copper until well into the second millennium b.c. at least. With the appearance of tin-copper alloys the percentage of arsenic in the copper objects noticeably declines indicating that the earlier arsenical-coppers were deliberately produced under controlled conditions.

Abstract: A selection of faience beads has been analyzed for 22 elements using neutron activation analysis with a view to distinguishing the provenance of individual specimens. Complete specimens were irradiated for 48 hours in a thermal neutron flux of 1.5 X 10up>1up>2 neutrons cmup>-up>2 secup>-up>1. Samples were counted 2-6 days after irradiation from approximately 10up>4 sec and again about 30 days after irradiation for approximately 3 X 10up>4 sec. The results show that the tin content in beads from British sites is significantly higher than in those from other areas. Consideration is given to copper-tin bronze as the source of the tin but no final conclusion is reached.

Abstract: The bristlecone pine tree-ring calibration of radiocarbon dates, while necessitating changes of up to 700 years in Holocene chronology before 1000 b.c., offers possibilities of very accurate dating when 14C determinations from floating tree-ring chronologies are utilized. A statistical approach assuming linear regression is developed and used to position the floating tree-ring chronologies at Swiss neolithic sites, using radiocarbon dates published by Ferguson, Huber and Suess and by Suess. The statistical method gives objective estimated dates with estimates of error related, in a consistent and explicit manner, to the inherent inaccuracies of the radiocarbon dates. Most of the method may readily be tested by standard statistical procedures. For the particular cases considered the assumptions of linearity and parallelism are investigated, and the precision of the estimated dates is comparable with that claimed by Suess and his co-workers. A precise calibration is thus possible without utilizing the short-term fluctuations in the Suess calibration curve. The analysis, while avoiding some assumptions of Suess and his collaborators, offers an explicit procedure for establishing controlled teleconnections with the Ferguson dendrochronology, and supports their emphasis on the importance of radiocarbon dates from floating tree-ring sequences for the construction of precise prehistoric chronologies.

Abstract: The ‘spurious’thermoluminescent glow from ground samples of flint is responsible for dating errors in the region of 10 000 years for grains less than 45 μm diameter or of 4000 years for larger grains. The glow is partly tribothermoluminescence and partly regeneration thermoluminescence and the conditions in which these arise or are accelerated have been found. It is shown that if thin polished slices are used rather than powder, the amount of such glow is negligible.

Abstract: Seven sites in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas have been dated. For six sites (Terral Lewis, Poverty Point, Jaketown, Teoc Creek, Shoe Bayou, and Claiborne) the results are not inconsistent with contemporaneity; excluding Claiborne the average date is 1000 b.c., with an error limit in absolute terms of ± 200 years. The seventh site (Loggy Bayou), in which sherds and balls were found in association, gave a date some fifteen hundred years more recent.

Abstract: This study uses X-ray fluorescent analysis to compare the trace chemical composition of seventeen pottery sherds excavated from sites in Britain with the trace analyses of twenty four sherds from continental sources. Results indicate that certain elements, notably zirconium, titanium, rubidium, and strontium show little variation within a particular sherd and are consistent among samples from the same source. Certain other elements appear to show wide variation which is possibly attributable to firing conditions, burial or is connected with the glaze. The comparisons of analyses indicate that nine of the seventeen British sherds can be closely correlated with particular continental sources. Tentative correlation is suggested for five sherds. The remaining three sherds clearly do not come from any of the sources investigated.

Abstract: Two contexts from the Colombian sites, Yotoco Ferry and Moralba, had been linked by archaeological similarities in pottery style, and dated by association with ware from other sites at circaad 1000 However, radiocarbon dating of those contexts set Moralba at circa 800 bc, some 2000 yr older than Yotoco Ferry Thermoluminescent dating of pottery from Yotoco Ferry dated it at circaad 900, and pottery from Moralba was dated at circaad 870 In addition a metal-smelting pottery crucible, thought to be prehispanic, was studied by thermoluminescence and dated, on the contrary, at less than 120 yr old

Abstract: This article outlines the thermoluminescent dating technique employed at Riso. The intensity of beta and gamma radiation is determined by means of the TL phosphors CaSO4:Mn and CaSO4:Dy, and the determination of accumulated exposure is based on quartz and feldspar inclusions with a size of 0.3–0.5 mm. Results are presented of a dating programme comprising sherds, bricks, burned stones and burned clay (from kilns) from seventeen excavation sites. The age of the sites ranged from a.d. 1600 to 4000 b.c.

Abstract: Fired rock-crystal was found within the matrix of a Late Stone Age burial in Ceylon. A determination of the total equivalent dose of radiation to which the crystal had responded after firing gave 835±55 rad. A total dose rate based on the measured radioactivity of the quartz, a calculated gamma-dose rate for the soil, and an estimated cosmic dose rate was 128 mrad/year. The calculated age was 6500 year BP.

Abstract: This paper discusses a systematic difference between the results found when one series of Dark-Age gold coins were analysed both by neutron activation and by specific gravity analysis and when a second series of similar coins was analysed by the Oxford Milliprobe and by specific gravity. No reason is given for this systematic difference, although there is evidence that all three methods are slightly in error, two of them giving results for gold which are too high and the specific gravity method giving results which are too low.

Abstract: Nondestructive neutron activation analysis is by now a well-established technique for the analysis of ancient silver coins. The high activation cross-section of silver for thermal neutrons makes it possible to also use this method with the low neutron fluxes available from an isotopic neutron source. In this case due consideration must be given to minimize the self-shielding effect which is encountered with coins above a few tenths of a millimetre thickness. A simple method for the determination of the silver, copper and gold content in silver coins based on the self-shielding properties of silver alloys of different fineness is described. The method has been found to be useful for the quick routine assay of silver coins for the purpose of their classification. Seventeen ancient Burmese silver coins from three different cultural periods of Burma, and two British coins for comparison have been analyzed by this method.

Abstract: This paper considers the presentation of the results of the mechanical analysis of cave sediments, suggesting that the use of grain size parameter scatter diagrams is preferable to the older method of cumulative percentage frequency graphs. A sequence of samples was taken from an ideally-situated cave, the Badger Hole at Wookey, and first subjected to the standard soil analytical tests, followed by a detailed mechanical analysis. It is hoped that this preliminary work will encourage a more quantitative approach to granulometric analysis for archaeological purposes, leading eventually to the extraction of more precise environmental data from cave sediments.

Abstract: Age determinations of kill sites, where charcoal is generally absent, has usually depended on radiocarbon analyses of bone material. However, it has been seen with known-age samples that these dates are often in error due to contamination by plant products or ground water carbonates. The use of soil samples from strata both above and below, as well as the level containing the artifacts, offers important advantages. The soil profiles present sequences of dates, whereas the bones are only individual samples. The distribution of the soil date values can indicate upper and lower limits for the age of the kill site. The Taima-taima paleo-indian site in the state of Falcon, Venezuela is presented as an illustration of the application of radiocarbon dating of soil to archaeological problems. A total of 22 samples were processed. It is seen that soils from two profiles indicate a dating of 13 000 years for the kill. Taking into account reasonable extents of error, uncertainties of ± 2000 years can be estimated. The non-carbonate fraction dates are in agreement with the earth samples, but this is probably due to the organic matter extracted from these materials being mostly soil contamination in the porous bone matrix. Fluorine measurements on the bones confirm the Pleistocene origin.

Abstract: For some 15 years the authenticity of a group of small pottery pieces, claimed to have originated in the Hui Hsien area of China, has been the subject of academic discussion and some dissension. The thermolumines-cent dating of 22 such pieces from 4 independent collections is reported following a review of archaeological evidence for the origin of the material and of scientific investigations that have previously been made in investigation of its authenticity. It is concluded that all the pieces are of modern origin and not some 2300 years old as their stylistic forms might suggest.

Abstract: Work is presented that tests the possibility of performing radiocarbon dating measurements by using the thermoluminescence induced in sensitive phosphors, using existing thermoluminescence equipment. It is concluded that, for such a technique to be viable, a more specifically designed, and more elaborate, system will be necessary. Some comparative results on certain TLD phosphors are also given.

Abstract: A series of silver coins was analysed for silver and gold contents by three methods—chemical wet analysis, activation analysis and X-ray fluorescence using a point source linear spectrometer (milliprobe). The results indicate that while the X-ray fluorescence technique gives better agreement with chemical analysis for major components the use of activation analysis with automated equipment results in a considerable saving of time and has a high sensitivity for some minor components.

Abstract: X-ray fluorescence analysis is a non-destructive method, very useful for qualitative and quantitative determination of chemical elements in paintings, frescoes, enamels, etc. Measurements have been carried out on ancient Persian mural painting allowing the identification of about ten different pigments. Furthermore, many oil paintings have been examined. For example, about thirty regions of different colour tonalities concerning the ‘Deposizione’by Raffaello Sanzio have been analysed; in this way it has been possible to determine the composition of several pigments used by the author and to identify some restored regions. The enamels of a ligneous Egyptian panel have also been studied; the results are in good agreement with those obtained using conventional methods.