Mass spectrometry with laser sampling: A new tool to characterize archaeological materials

Interest in mass spectrometry with an inductively coupled plasma as an ion source and its association with laser ablation as a sample introduction technique (LA-ICP-MS) has steadily increased during the past few years. After a description of the analytical procedure and the calculation method, we show the potential of this technique to characterize non destructively archaeological artefacts. A comparison is made between the results obtained with LA-ICP-MS and those obtained on the same objects with other analytical methods. A large variety of archaeological materials such as obsidians, glasses, glazes and flints are studied.