Chemical characterization of tin-lead glazed ceramics from Aragon (Spain) by neutron activation analysis

Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA(Received October 15, 2009; accepted in revised form March 17, 2010) Majolica /Neutron activation analysis (NAA) / Provenance / Multivariate statistics / Spain Summary. Majolica pottery was the most erallycharacteristic tableware produced in Spain during the Medieval and Renais- sance periods. A study of the three main production centers in the historical region of Aragon during Middle Ages and Renaissance was conducted on a set of 71 samples. The sam- ples were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), and the resulting data were interpreted using an array of multivariate statistical procedures. Our results show a clear discrimination among different production centers allowing a reliable provenance attribution of ceramic sherds from the Aragonese workshops.