Project

Studying the origin and use of the oldest prehistoric pottery in north Belgium using high-end mass spectrometric methods

Code
3F015817
Duration
01 October 2017 → 30 September 2021
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Humanities
    • Prehistoric archaeology
  • Natural sciences
    • Instrumental methods
Keywords
elemental analysis mass spectrometry isotopic analysis Prehistory Clay provenancing
 
Project description

Prehistoric pottery sherds from the Scheldt basin will be analyzed via high-end mass spectrometric techniques. Elemental “fingerprinting” and isotopic analysis of selected elements within the clay fraction will be relied on for provenancing the clay. Compound-specific isotopic analysis of absorbed organic residues will reveal the diet of the users, which will also aid in adequate sampling for reliable radiocarbon dating.