X-radiography associated with PIXE technique to evaluate the presence of porosity in archaeological pottery from Aldeia Lalima

Full text: X-Radiography technique has been used effectively for decades to evaluate and identify diverse materials. It is a simple, rapid and non-destructive technique and provides a view of internal structure and has been used to investigate manufacturing details of archaeological ceramics. These hidden features can indicate the presence of temper, the size and the orientation of the inclusions and external elements can be highlighted as decoration, joins points and cracks. Characteristics of the paste can be derived using PIXE technique through the determination of the major elemental composition allowing the calculation of the expected density of the material. Combining this information with x-ray images is possible to check for differences in the average density of material indicating the presence of homogeneously distributed porosity or temper. The present work shows a study done in a set of 112 native Brazilian pottery sherds that were collected in the Aldeia Lalima archaeological site, located at Mato Grosso do Sul State. (author)