Application of INAA to ancient bricks for grouping study using trace elements

The paper presents the chemical composition analysis results of 57 ancient clay bricks obtained from Buddhist sites of two major locations of Andhra Pradesh, India. Samples were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) using high flux reactor neutrons and high resolution gamma ray spectrometry. Major, minor and trace concentrations of 23 elements were determined by relative method of NAA. For the grouping/provenance study, statistical cluster analysis was performed using concentrations of 14 selected elements namely Sc, Cr, Fe, Co, Zn, Cs, La, Ce, Eu, Tb, Yb, Lu, Ta and Th. The cluster analysis results indicated two major groups, which are in good agreement with the collection history of samples. Accuracy of the method was evaluated by analyzing two IAEA reference materials, RMs SL-1 and Soil-7.