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Element content of the samples of medieval ceramics from Southern Kazakhstan: searching the way of preliminary differentiation

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Abstract

Thirty samples of the unglazed ceramics selected from a range of medieval sites within the Shu-Talas interfluve, Southern Kazakhstan, were used in the methodical study aimed to reveal “a chemical fingerprint” enabling preliminary differentiation of the restricted quantity of wares. Ratios of the rare earth element (REE) contents in the samples including light to heavy REE fractionation and the values of Eu and Ce anomalies were found the most promising to solve the task. To verify the assumptions binary scatterplots, factor and cluster analysis were applied to the contents of some major, minor and trace elements determined by X-ray fluorescence and neutron activation analysis. The first results were obtained relating the places of pottery burial to the production sites accounting for ware transfer for sale or other.

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Notes

  1. In Turkic languages it means tetragons or buildings orientated on the four corners of the earth.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the grants № BR09158958 from Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and № AP09260358 from Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Funding

Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, № BR09158958, Igor Silachyov, Ministry of Scientific and Technological Development, Higher Education and Information Society, № AP09260358,Yeraly Akymbek.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nuclear Physics, Ibragimov Str.1, 050032, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan

    I. Silachyov

  2. Margulan Institute of Archaeology, Dostyk Ave.44, 050000, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan

    Y. Akymbek

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  1. I. Silachyov
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Correspondence to I. Silachyov.

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Silachyov, I., Akymbek, Y. Element content of the samples of medieval ceramics from Southern Kazakhstan: searching the way of preliminary differentiation. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 3799–3811 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-023-09073-2

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