title: Combined Spectroscopic Analysis of Beads from the Tombs of Kindoki, Lower Congo Province (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
abstract: Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis are commonly applied to archaeological objects as a fast and nondestructive way to characterize the materials. Here, micro-Raman spectroscopy and chemometrics on handheld XRF results were used to completely characterize beads found during archaeological excavations in the Congo. Metallic objects, organogenic materials, and glass beads were studied. Special attention was paid to the glassy materials, as they seem to be of European production. The matrix family and crystalline phases assemblage, as well as the results from principal components analysis on the elemental data, were used to define groups of beads of similar composition, and therefore probably of similar origin. This research project establishes the feasibility of this approach to archaeological glasses, and can be used to confirm and support the bead typologies used by archaeologists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium raman@ugent.be.
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rousaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coccato
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Verhaeghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Languages and Cultures, KongoKing Research Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bernard-Olivier
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Clist
authors.affiliation: Department of Languages and Cultures, KongoKing Research Group, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bostoen
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vandenabeele
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moens
keywords: Archaeometry; Chemometrics; Colored glass; Handheld X-ray fluorescence; Micro-Raman spectroscopy; Western Central-African beads