Rare earth elements analysis in archaeological pottery by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

In the present work, laser induced breakdown spectroscopy has been employed to detect rare earth elements in archaeological potteries and brick sample collected from different locations. Laser Induced breakdown spectroscopy data has been analyzed to investigate the provenance of ancient clay artifacts which is based on the geochemistry of rare earth elements in the artifacts. The qualitative study of spectra shows the presence of a set of rare earth elements such as La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy, and Er in archaeological potteries which specifies that these potteries were manufactured from the same clay sources.