TRACE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF ARCHEOLOGICAL MATERIALS AND THE USE OF PATTERN-RECOGNITION METHODS TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY

Trace elements were determined in South West African potsherds by instrumental NAA and by PIXE. The elements for which the relative spread of concentrations were greatest were selected as indicators. From these the methods of the Minimal Spanning Tree and of Nonlinear Mapping were used to classify about 60 specimens. Groups were tested by concentration, sum of concentration and normalized concentration indices. Similar groupings were obtained irrespective of which analytical data or mathematical techniques was used. © 1979 Akadémiai Kiadó.