Analyses of gold artifacts from Slovenia

The method of particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) was used for the study of two gold archaeological finds: a Norico-Pannonian brooch, presumably a votive item, and a pair of earrings and a ring from a Slavic female grave. The analysis was performed by an external proton millibeam and aimed to ide ntify the manufacturing techniques. The brooch, including the spring, was m ade of a rather pure 98% gold. This may indicate that the brooch was produc ed for votive purposes, as a more flexible spring would suit an object to b e worn. The Slavic ring was made of a different alloy than the earrings; mo reover, its inhomogeneous alloy reveals the exploitation of local gold sour ces. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.