Allocation of jasper archaeological implements by means of ESR and XRF

Abstract Archaeological jasper implements were allocated to their sources by the non-destructive techniques of ESR and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Ratios of signal intensities in ESR and XRF spectra of jasper implements are compared with those from jasper samples taken from natural sources, and Hotelling's T 2 test is applied. Samples from archaeological sites around Tokyo prefecture are shown to have originated from Kasenzan (600 km from Tokyo) jasper and some samples from archaeological sites in Kobe city are from a source in Tamatani (100 km from Kobe). A sample found from the archaeological site in Awaji island is from Kasenzan (200 km from Awaji).