We use a Bruker Tracer III-SD portable XRF system for the analysis of
non-homogeneous materials like soils, artifacts, rocks, etc. Traditional
p-XRF systems employ a "fundamental parameters" model for calculating
element concentrations and the FP model can go seriously awry when expected
elements are not there, or vice versa, or if a particular element(s) is
present in much higher concentration than expected.
This is one reason why a traditional geochem laboratory would engage in
significant sample preparation with a soil matrix.
The Tracer approach utilizes a Bayesian algorithm to generate much more
accurate de-convoluted spectral photon counts. Calibration is more involved
but you can get a more reliable result.
Warm regards,
Scott W. McGeorge, Ph.D. C.Chem
Analytical Spectrochemist
Transition Technologies, Inc.
257 Norseman Street
Toronto, ON, M8Z 2R5
[log in to unmask]
V: 416-233-1551
F: 416-233-8822
C: 416-400-8205
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Richard
Lundin
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 19:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: XRF in Soil Analysis
Ian:
Dr. Claudia Brackett-Lundin and I have done several pXRF soil and plant
surveys of prerhistoric and historic era sites in Arizona, California,
Alabama, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, Florida and New Mexico in the US and
Temple Mayor and Santa Maria Acatitlan in Mexico and Maya sites in Guatemala
with both NITON and INNOV-X (now Olympus NDT. instruments) and are
acknowledged pioneers in the the use of this technology for field soil and
plant surveys and coined the pXRF acronym at SHA in Williamsburg in 2007.
I, personally, am a "retred" geologist with +40 years in the mining
industry doing field geochemistry, near-surface geophysics and airbourne
remote sensing. I have an MA in Historical Archaeology with an
archaeogeophysics emphasis from Northern Arizona University under Dr.
Charles Hoffman.
Dr. Brackett-Lundin is an instrumental chemist who has specialized in pXRF
applications for archaeology and geology.
We have presented at several SHA, CAA, SAA, SAS and IGU Conferences since
2005 and FIRST introduced pXRF technology to field archaeology in 2005 with
and with a presentation of pXRF field soil surveys of the Mexican Babocamari
Presidio in 2006 with a presentation at SHA.
Dr. Brackett-Lundin and I have not been actively doing field surveys since
2010 when we were both disabled in a "skinhead" attack here in California.
After two operations and several other medical proceedures, we are now
almost fully recovered and are revisiting our past soil and
archaeogeochemical plant surveys of sites in Arizona, Texas, Illinois,
California and Alabama for a future publication of Case Studies.
Since I am almost fully field capable and we still have a research interest
in the use of pXRF technology for both archaeogeochemical soil and
archaeobiochemical plant field investigations. We are hoping to use these
technologies along with Combined Survey Format (CSF) archaeogeophysical
technologies and field techniques to find the the "lost" sites of the 1565
French setllement of La Caroline in Florida (or Georgia, if you believe the
the recent Press Release, which we don't); the "lost" Caravels of Columbus
in Saint Anne's Bay, Jamaica and the "Tell Frigate" of the 1579 Drake
Expedition, and, finally, the "lost" 2nd Day Battlefield of Bannockburn in
Scotland-all under the flag of Wondjina Research Institute (WRI).
As we are just "over the hill" from you at Twain Harte California and I did
my graduate Field School work in Historical Archaeology at UNR under Don
Hardesty, I believe that we would have much to discuss. We do get "over the
Hill" on a quaqrterly basis for Geological Society of Nevada
(GSN) meetings and could get together with you in April when I am scheduled
to give a talk at the Reno Meeting of GSN on one of our mineral industry
projects.
Please feel free to call me a call at WRI's Confidence House number: (209)
586-5632 so that we may get together and exchange ideas and referencesso as
to assist you in your MA Thesis work. By the way, what instrument are you
using for the field work?
Sincerely,
Richard J. Lundin BA, MA, RPA, ISAP, AIPG Registered Professional Historical
Archaeologist (RPA) & Remote Sensing Specialist (ISAP)(Airbourne &
Archaeogeophysics) Mineral Exploration Consultant, Professional Geologist
(AIPG) and Permitting Specialist Director, Wondjina Research Institute
President & CEO, RICH ORE Mining, Inc.
Vice President & Exploration Manager, GOLD BAR Mining, Inc.
President, Wombat Mining Co.
Geologist & Agent, Oro Grande Mining, Inc.
Partner, WRI\CC JV
California Office: (209) 586-5632
22510 Confidence Rd., Twain Harte CA 95383 Arizona Field Office: (928)
274-6529
On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 12:28 PM, Ian Springer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I am working on geochemical analysis of soils as part of my MA thesis
> at the University of Nevada, Reno, and I'm trying to find information
> on what has been done using XRF on soils, specifically in historical
> archaeology in the United States. I've searched as many relevant
> journals as I can find, but all of the published articles using XRF in
> the U.S. focus on artifacts, such as ceramics or spent rifle shells. I
> have found examples of the use of XRF on soils in Europe, but if it
> has been used in the U.S., it appears that nothing has been published in
the literature that I have access to.
> Has anyone written about this as part of a CRM report, or perhaps a
> regional journal?
> Here is a listing of what I have found so far:
>
> Duran, A., et al.
> 2011 Analytical Study of Roman and Arabic Wall Paintings in the Patio
> De Banderas of Reales Alcazares' Palace Using Non-Destructive XRD/XRF
> and Complementary Techniques. Journal of Archaeological Science
38:2366-2377.
>
> Gilbert, Allan S., Garman Harbottle, and Daniel deNoyelles
> 1993 A Ceramic Chemistry Archive for New Netherland/New York.
> Historical Archaeology 27(3):17-56.
>
> Hein, Don, Gary Hill, and Ross H. Ramsay
> 2004 Raw or Pre-Fired: Kiln Construction at Sawankhalok, North Central
> Thailand, as a Guide to Ceramic History. International Journal of
> Historical Archaeology 8(4):247-266.
>
> Milek, Karen B., and Howell M. Roberts
> 2013 Integrated Geoarchaeological Methods for the Determination of
> Site Activity Areas: A Study of a Viking Age House in Reykjavik, Iceland.
> Journal of Archaeological Science 40(4):1845-1865.
>
> Neff, Hector, Barbara Voorhies, and Federico Paredes Umana
> 2012 Handheld XRF for Art and Archaeology. Volume 3. Leuven: Leuven
> University Press.
>
> Owen, J. V., and Denise Hansen
> 1996 Compositional Constraints on the Identification of
> Eighteenth-Century Porcelain Sherds from Fort Beausejour, New
> Brunswick, and Grassy Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Historical Archaeology
30(4):88-100.
>
> Pearl, Frederic B., and Sandy Loiseau-Vonruff
> 2007 Father Julian Vidal and the Social transformation of a Small
> Polynesian Village (1787-1930): Historical Archaeology at Massacre
> Bay, American Samoa. International Journal of Historical Archaeology
11(1):32-59.
>
> Shackel, Paul A., and Michael Roller
> 2012 The Gilded Age Wasn't So Gilded in the Anthracite Region of
> Pennsylvania. International Journal of Historical Archaeology
16(4):761-775.
>
> Thomas, William J., et al.
> 1992 An X-Ray Fluorescence-Pattern Recognition Analysis of Pottery
> from an Early Historic Hispanic Settlement near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
> Historical Archaeology 26(2):24-36.
>
> Any further suggestions would be appreciated, Ian Springer
>
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