https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-04320-7
Regular Article
Combining SR-FTIR, SR-LEXRF and PIXE microscopies for residue analysis on Palaeolithic stone artefacts
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell’Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università Degli Studi Di Siena, Via Laterino 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
2
CERIC-ERIC, S.S. 14 Km 163,5 in Area Science Park, 34149, Basovizza, Italy
3
Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.P.A., S.S. 14 km 163,5 in Area Science Park, 34149, Basovizza, Italy
4
Laboratory for Ion Beam Interactions, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička Cesta 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
b
chiaramaria.stani@ceric-eric.eu
Received:
15
October
2022
Accepted:
26
July
2023
Published online:
23
August
2023
Residue analysis in the field of Palaeolithic studies represents a powerful source of information, as well as a challenging operation of deduction, based on the interpretation of what remains of organic and inorganic compounds that testify to the ancient use of lithic artefacts. The disposal of reliable methods for residue characterisation is thus essential in the approach to this discipline, along with the collection of comprehensive, high-quality data. In this paper, the development of a new analytical protocol is presented through the chemical characterisation of red residues coming from three lithic artefacts retrieved from the Upper Palaeolithic stratigraphic sequence of Grotta Paglicci (Apulia, Italy). The morphological description of each residue was followed by the application of an advanced set of complementary techniques (namely Synchrotron Radiation Fourier-Transform InfraRed microscopy, Synchrotron Radiation Low-Energy X-ray Fluorescence and Particle Induced X-ray Emission) to obtain the molecular and elemental composition. The results provided by this pilot study allowed the identification of various organic and inorganic fractions within the samples, proving the reliability and high sensitivity of our newly designed protocol in dealing with ancient residues.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
