PIXE-RBS analysis on potteries unearthed from Lijiaba Site

A simultaneous proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) analysis using 2 MeV proton beam and an aluminum funny filter was performed to identify and characterize elemental composition of 52 pottery shards in Shang-Zhou Dynasty (B.C.1700–B.C.221) unearthed from the Lijiaba Site, one of the habitations of Ba clan in the Three Gorges reservoir area in China. From the result of factor analysis of elemental composition, there was no obvious element assemblage phenomenon among the pottery shards with different types, which may suggest that there was no special clay source for special pottery at that time. Furthermore, a group of pottery elemental data from the Jinsha Site (B.C.1200–B.C.650) of Chengdu in China, the representative relic of Shu culture, was also employed to compare with those from the Lijiaba Site, and an obvious difference in elemental composition was observed, which perhaps indicated that only based on the elemental analysis of these potteries, no evidence of interchange was found between the two sites.