The main objective of this work was the study of chemical composition of an important collection of Ibero-Roman votive bronze statuettes exposed in the Archaeological Museum of Sagunto (Spain). Precision and accuracy of the measurements were obtained developing a proper analytical method, also avoiding any possible damage to the studied objects using a portable energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence system. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to discriminate between groups based on ratios Fe/Cu, Pb/Cu, Sn/Cu, Ag/Cu, Ni/Cu and Impurities/Cu were employed to observe differences between the used smelting, manufacturing processes and raw materials. The characterisation of bronze statuettes cross-referenced with archaeological data, gave important suggestions to clarify issues regarding manufacturing processes, quality and chronologies of the studied objects.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.