Compositional studies on Transylvanian gold nuggets: Advantages and limitations of PIXE–PIGE analysis

Abstract Minute fragments from nine gold nuggets from Transylvania – two belonging to placer deposits and seven to primary deposits – were analyzed by PIXE and PIGE at the AGLAE tandem accelerator of the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musees de France (C2RMF) with a 3 MeV proton beam extracted into air. This study was triggered by some archaeological provenance issues for which the elemental characterization of the Transylvanian gold source, exploited from the Antiquity, was required. All analyzed Transylvanian gold nuggets are characterized by a consistently high amount of Ag (18% on average). Au and Ag add up to roughly 99%, the other elements – Cu, Fe, Te, Pb – being detected only at a trace level. The obtained results are in good agreement with the previous analyses of Transylvanian gold.