The Application of a Portable X‐ray Fluorescence Spectrometer to the On‐site Analysis of Glass Vessel Fragments From Southern Thailand*

Abstract

Ancient glass vessel fragments belonging to the seventh to ninth centuries ad, from the Ko Kho Khao, Laem Pho and Khuan Lukpad sites in southern Thailand, were studied. The glass vessel fragment samples are a collection belonging to the Department of Archaeology, the 15th Regional Office of Fine Arts of Thailand. The chemical compositions of the glasses were analysed using a modified portable energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence spectrometer (OURSTEX 100FA‐II) by the introduction of a MOXTEK® AP3.3 polymer window (5 mm2∅) to the KETEK silicon drift detector for the measurement of light elements. The non‐destructive analysis was performed at the National Museum, Phuket, in Thailand. It is shown that the glass chemical compositions belong to mineral and plant‐ash based soda–lime–silicate glass. The origins of the glass artefacts are discussed in terms of raw materials and glass decoration, and compared with previously reported similar typological glasses from sites in the port city of Rāya and the Monastery of Wadi al‐Tur in Egypt.

Silk Road glass in Xinjiang, China: chemical compositional analysis and interpretation using a high-resolution portable XRF spectrometer

“…Further steps will be to refine the sample preparation methods, possibly using smaller polished areas, and to do a more direct comparison of pXRF data for archaeological samples with that obtained by more standard techniques such as electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Such a study has already been done by the group at Tokyo University of Science using an earlier version of their pXRF equipment, with promising results (Tantrakarn et al, 2011), but would bear repeating for glass of different chemical compositional types and different depositional circumstances.…”

Characterization of some ancient glass beads unearthed from theKizil reservoir andWanquan cemeteries inXinjiang,China

“…For the quantitative determination of the major and minor glass components, an OUTSTEX 100FA type p XRF spectrometer with the capability to analyse Na and Mg was used (Tantrakarn et al . ). A palladium (Pd) excitation tube was employed, with a voltage of 40 kV or 15 kV, and with a current of 0.5–1.0 mA.…”

Application of a portable XRF spectrometer for classification of potash glass beads unearthed from tombs of Han Dynasty in Guangxi, China

“…In order to obtain a complete characterization of the artifact samples, the PXRF has also been used together with other analysis techniques . As an emerging and potential technique, the PXRF has been employed in the identification of chemical compositions of glasses, ceramics, pigments, metal alloys, and other materials of artistic interest more and more widely …”