Non-Destructive Survey of Early Roman Copper-Alloy Brooches using Portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

Abstract

This paper argues that portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF) is a suitable elemental measurement technique to study the production of copper-alloy artefacts. However, rather than try to imitate the accuracy and precision of laboratory techniques, it is more beneficial to deploy it in a survey role, one that attempts to model chronological and geographical changes within large quantities of artefacts. To achieve this, it was investigated to what extent corrosion and the issues surrounding surface measurements affect the potential of this type of research. Analyses on early Roman period brooches gathered in the Nijmegen region of the Netherlands were subsequently compared with published data.