Archaeometric study of ceramic figurines from the Maya settlement of La Blanca (Petén, Guatemala)

• TXRF and XRD analysis are used in studies of Maya figurines from La Blanca settlement (Guatemala).
• Multivariate classification procedures were performed on analytical data to identify figurine groups.
• Clustering of analytical data is compared with the traditional Type-Variety classification system.

In this article, analytical results will be presented and discussed regarding a selected set of figurines from the ancient Maya settlement of La Blanca in Petén, Guatemala. The objective is to characterize the ceramic material by two analytical complementary techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD) and total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF). The data obtained by means of both XRD and TXRF were compared and analyzed by multivariate statistical techniques in order to obtain sample groups according to their chemical composition. The results of this archaeometric study have been compared to those that have been obtained through macroscopic characterization by means of the traditional classification system know as Type-Variety. Discordances have been found between the clusters obtained by the Type-Variety classification system and the multivariate classification procedures performed on analytical data.