Investigation of ancient pottery from Lefkanti,Greece, by epithermal gamma spectroscopy using loss-free counting technology

For the analysis of pottery fragments from ancient Lefkanti, instrumental neutron activation analysis was used. To have a good throughput of samples, a detectable series of short-lived isotopes was selected for the investigation. The problem of the initial high radioactivity, which normally hinders a fast -spectroscopic analysis, was eluded by using loss-free counting technology. This technology allows the measurement of pottery samples of about 100 mg size 1 day after a 30 min epithermal irradiation. Up to 15 samples could be analyzed in one day under these working conditions, having the possibility to analyze the elements As, Eu, Ga, Gd, La, Mn, Sb, Sm, Th, U, W and Zn, which are enough to perform statistical characterizations of potteries.