Micro‐PIXE Geochemical Fingerprinting of Nephrite Neolithic Artifacts from Southwest Bulgaria     

Ruslan I. Kostov  Christo Protochristov  Chavdar Stoyanov  Lszl Csedreki  Alíz Simon  Zita Szikszai  Imre Uzonyi  Bisserka Gaydarska  John Chapman 《Geoarchaeology》2012,27(5):457-469

Neolithic artifacts made of nephrite, □Ca₂(Fe,Mg)₅Si₈O₂₂(OH)_2, are found at prehistoric settlements in Bulgaria. This study investigates these objects based on particle induced X‐ray emission using a scanning nuclear microprobe (micro‐PIXE technique). Seven nephrite artifacts from the Neolithic sites of Kovachevo, Bulgarchevo and Galabnik in southwest Bulgaria were analyzed to quantify their composition and to establish if a correlation exists between the distribution of major and trace elements, color, impurities, and texture. The nephrite artifacts are tremolite in composition, with a proposed ultrabasic origin. Based on the geochemical data obtained by micro‐PIXE, we divide the artifacts into Group 1 objects from the Kovachevo site and Group 2 objects from the Galabnik and Bulgarchevo sites. The analytical data and microprobe analyses are compared with geochemical data of nephrite from across the globe. The results are in a good agreement with previous electron microprobe and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy data. Our study provides a better understanding of the mineralogy and geochemistry of nephrite artifacts and helps to address questions regarding origin and the distribution of such materials in Bulgaria and other Balkan countries.  相似文献