Application of elemental and mineralogical analysis of ceramics from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Dongal (Central Kazakhstan) in search of nonlocal wares
Silachyov I.Y. Loman V.G. Migunova A.A.
September 2025Elsevier Ltd
Archaeological Research in Asia
2025#43
Data on the chemical composition of archaeological ceramics are very important and convenient whenever their provenance is concerned. The present methodical investigation was aimed at revealing the local or nonlocal origin of some pottery samples from the Dongal settlement (Central Kazakhstan, Late Bronze Age) based on the analysis of their elemental and mineral composition. The methods of X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, and instrumental neutron activation analysis were applied for the first time to differentiate 16 samples from the settlement. The phase composition heterogeneity, confirmed by the results of multivariate statistical analysis of the element content, identified two compositional groups of the wares ascribed to different clay sources close to the site. Explicit investigation revealed a sample incompatible with the others in terms of rare earth element fractionation, which can be admitted as a nonlocal one on that ground. The results demonstrate the high potential of the approach to find differences in ceramic wares unobvious through traditional visual analysis.
Central Kazakhstan , Late bronze age ceramics , Mineralogical and elemental analysis , Multivariate statistical methods , Nonlocal wares
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Ibragimov str.1, Almaty, 050032, Kazakhstan
Saryarka Archaeological Institute, Buketov Karaganda University, Universitetskaya 28, Karaganda, 100074, Kazakhstan
Department of Physics and Technology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi Av.71, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Institute of Nuclear Physics
Saryarka Archaeological Institute
Department of Physics and Technology
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026