Provenance study of Amerindian pottery figurines with Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis

Abstract

A Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) facility has been in operation at the Budapest Neutron Centre (BNC) since 1996. Nonetheless that PGAA is a relatively new method, its applicability to archeological research has already been established by several studies. Archaeologists of the Simon Bolivar University initiated a research project aimed to perform a provenance study of pre-Hispanic pottery figurines. Forty samples were selected from two archaeological sites excavated in the Los Roques Archipelago. Almost five hundred figurines have been recovered altogether in four sites of the Archipelago. Amerindian groups from the adjacent Venezuela mainland were identified as island sites' occupants, between A.D. 1200 and the European contact period. Forty fragments of figurines were investigated by PGAA, the concentrations of major- and some trace components being determined. Among others, K2O, Cl and Cr were found to be the most significant indicators of the samples originated from the Lake Valencia Basin (mainland) and from Los Roques Islands. By relating the island figurines to their stylistical and chemical counterparts from the mainland we will provide chronological information on hundreds of mainland figurines.

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