Preliminary evidence of prehistoric human activity by chemical analysis of sediments from Lapa Grande de Taquaraçu archaeological site using INAA

• Published in: Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry 2020-09, Vol.325 (3), p.725-736
• Main Authors: Tudela, Diego R. G., Araujo, Astolfo G. M., Tatumi, Sonia H., Mittani, Juan C. R., Munita, Casimiro S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemical activity; Chemical analysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cluster analysis; Diagnostic Radiology; Discriminant analysis; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Historic buildings & sites; Historic sites; Human influences; Inorganic Chemistry; Neutron activation analysis; Neutrons; Nuclear Chemistry; Nuclear Physics; Physical Chemistry; Principal components analysis; Sediments
• ISSN: 0236-5731; 1588-2780
• DOI: 10.1007/s10967-020-07217-2

This paper analyzes the mass fractions of Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Nd, Rb, Sc, Sm, Ta, Tb, Th, U, Yb and Zn determined from sixty sediment samples obtained from the Lapa Grande de Taquaraçu archaeological site using instrumental neutron activation analysis, INAA. The archaeological site is located in the municipality of Jaboticatubas, about 60 km from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The dataset was explored by means of cluster analysis, principal component analysis and discriminant analysis. The study showed three different compositional groups related to anthropogenic sediment, fluvial system and oxisols, respectively. The crystalline structure of each group were studied using X-ray diffraction, XRD.