Analysis of lead-based archaeological pottery glazes by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

[Display omitted] •Application of LIBS for elemental analysis of pottery glaze.•Diagnostics of laser induced plasma.•Optical profilometry analysis of laser induced surface damage.•Semiquantitative elemental analysis of glazes by XRF. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the potential of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) in the analysis of pottery shards, which are commonly the most abundant artefacts recovered at archaeological sites. The analytical capability of LIBS in identification of elements characteristic to inorganic pigments used for decoration was assessed. Based on the specific elements detected in the LIBS spectra of glazes, correlations between the elemental composition of the glaze and the colours of the glazed surface were established. The results were in accordance with the previously reported Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) and Raman analyses of some of the samples, and with the presently performed XRF analysis. Two important parameters for plasma characterization, temperature and electron number density, were estimated from the spectral data. A potential use of LIBS for depth profiling was also investigated by analysing the silicon to aluminium intensity ratio as a function of the number of laser shots applied. Profilometry analysis of the damages created on the glazed surfaces by laser shots was used to estimate the average ablation depth and ablated mass.