Provenance Study of Venezuelan Amerindian Pottery Figurines with Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis
Zsolt Kasztovszky1, Marlena Mackowiak de Antczak2, Andrzej Antczak2, Barbara Millan2, Judilka Bermúdez2, László Sajo-Bohus2
1Institute of Isotopes, CRC of HAS H-1525 Budapest PO. Box 77, HUNGARY
2
Universidad Simón Bolívar PO. Box 89000, Caracas 1080A, VENEZUELAA Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis facility has been in operation at the Budapest Neutron Centre (BNC) since 1996. None the less that PGAA is a relatively new non-destrcutive method, its applicability to archeological research has already been established by several studies. Archaeologists of the Simón Bolívar University, Caracas initiated a research project aimed to perform a provenance study of pre-Hispanic pottery figurines. Amerindian groups from adjacent Venezuela mainland were identified as island sites’ occupants, between 1200 A.D. and the European contact period. Almost five hundred figurines has been recovered altogether in four sites of the Archipelago. Forty samples were selected from two archaeological sites excavated in the Los Roques Archipelago. Forty fragments of figurines were chosen for preliminary PGAA investigations. One of the main goal was to identify significant differences – if there are any – in elemental composition of the object, to answer the question of provenance. By PGAA, concentrations of major- such as H2O, Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, K2O, CaO, TiO2, MnO and Fe2O3, and some trace components (B, S, Cl, Sc, V, Cr, Ba, Sm, Eu, and Gd) were determined. Based on our first results we can state, that the material of the samples originated from Lake Valencia Basin (mainland) and from Los Roques Islands show significantly different composition. Among others, K2O, Cl and Cr were found to be the most significant indicators. In addition, Principal Component Analysis was applied on PGAA data to reveal significant diferences among objects.
By relating the island figurines to their stylistical and chemical counterparts from the mainland we wish to provide information regarding provenance, workshop, etc. to hundreds of mainland figurines.