Archeological objects; ceramics; laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy; LIBS; pottery;PIGMENT IDENTIFICATION; RAMAN MICROSCOPY; PAINTED ARTWORKS; LIBS

In recent decades, numerous analytical techniques have been used for the analysis of archeological samples. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a promising technique due to its practically nondestructive nature and minimal sample preparation. In this work, LIBS was used for the qualitative and quantitative elemental analyses of pottery manufactured in ancient settlements of Rome. The qualitative study showed that the ceramics were composed of Fe, Ca, and Mg. For quantitative analysis, calibration curves of Fe, Ca, and Mg were constructed with reference samples of each element in a KBr matrix with zinc as an internal standard. The results obtained by LIBS were compared with values obtained by atomic absorption.