Since the 1960s, x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), both wavelength and energy-dispersive have served as the workhorse for non-destructive and destructive analyses of archaeological materials. Recently eclipsed by other instrumentation such as LA-ICP-MS, XRF remains the mainstay of non-destructive chemical analyses in archaeology, particularly for volcanic rocks, and most particularly for obsidian. In a world where heritage and repatriation issues drive archaeological method and theory, XRF remains an important tool for understanding the human past, and will remain so for decades to come.

Currently, there is no comprehensive book in XRF applications in archaeology at a time when the applications of portable XRF and desktop XRF instrumentation are exploding particularly in anthropology and archaeology departments worldwide.

The contributors to this volume are the experts in the field, and most are at the forefront of the newest applications of XRF to archaeological problems.  It covers all relevant aspects of the field for those using the newest XRF technologies to deal with very current issues in archaeology.

Archaeological Methods
In Situ Analysis
Obsidian Studies
Remote Sensing
XRF and geological material
XRF in archaeological chemistry
destructive analysis of materials
energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence
portable XRF instrumentation
volcanic rock examination

• Front Matter
• X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry in Twenty-First Century Archaeology
• An Introduction to X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analysis in Archaeology
• Factors Affecting the Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) Analysis of Archaeological Obsidian
• Non-destructive EDXRF Analyses of Archaeological Basalts
• Non-destructive Applications of Wavelength XRF in Obsidian Studies
• Portable XRF of Archaeological Artifacts: Current Research, Potentials and Limitations
• Elemental Analysis of Fine-Grained Basalt Sources from the Samoan Island of Tutuila: Applications of Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) Toward an Intra-Island Provenance Study
• Comparison and Contrast Between XRF and NAA: Used for Characterization Of Obsidian Sources in Central Mexico
• Is There a Future for XRF in Twenty-First Century Archaeology?
• Erratum to: X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarchaeology
• Back Matter

Dept. Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, USA
M. Steven Shackley

Book Title
X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarchaeology

Editors
M. Steven Shackley

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6886-9

Hardcover ISBN
978-1-4419-6885-2
Published: 21 October 2010

Softcover ISBN
978-1-4614-3620-1
Published: 22 February 2012

eBook ISBN
978-1-4419-6886-9
Published: 17 October 2010

Edition Number
1

Number of Pages
XIV, 231

Number of Illustrations
21 b/w illustrations, 11 illustrations in colour

Topics
Archaeology, Mass Spectrometry, Geology