Neutron resonance capture analysis and chemometric tools: an integrated approach

A joint approach based on the Neutron Resonance Capture Analysis (NRCA) integrated by chemometric tools namely Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to determine the semi-quantitative isotopic composition of a large set of Sumerian pottery. Here, we present NRCA results from the experimental campaign carried out on the INES beamline at the ISIS pulsed neutron and muon source (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK). The potteries come from the archaeological site still under excavation of Abu Tbeirah, a 3rd millennium BCE site located in Southern Iraq, in the S-E periphery of the city of Nasiriyah. NRCA allows to determine the presence and the relative isotopic amounts, while the Principal Component Analysis distinguishes the elements/isotopes linked to the raw materials from the decay products due to contaminants that affect the potteries under investigation.