Checking the homogeneity of gold artefacts of the final bronze age found in Roca Vecchia, Italy by proton induced X-ray emission

摘要

Seven gold artefacts found in the same cultural and chronological context in the archaeological site of Roca Vecchia, Southern Italy, have been analyzed in air by proton induced X-ray emission at CEDAD, the AMS-IBA facility of the University of Lecce, Italy. The age of the artefacts has been also indirectly determined by carrying out AMS radiocarbon analyses on short lived organic materials archaeologically associated with the studied objects. The measurements confirmed that the artefacts were formed by a native alloy with a gold concentration ranging from 83.10 to 88.51 wt%. The compositional homogeneity of the artefacts seems to confirm the hypothesis of a common metalworking and origin of the raw materials.