Dinara ABBASOVA
(Institute of Geology of Poland Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland)
Keywords: XRF, Azikh cave, nuclear technologies, cultural heritage
Abstract:
Prehistorical “Azikh Woman” was discovered in 1968 in Azikh cave in Azerbaijan Republic by Azerbaijan archeologist Mammadali Huseinov. According to the French paleontologist, Lumlee, the Azikh jawbone is the fourth oldest human relic ever to be found in history. The first was discovered by Richard Leakey (his wife, Mary, and son) in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, the second in Kenya, and the third in France. Jawbone has been confirmed to be 350 to 400 thousand years old. Jawbone stored in the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences.
For the first time, element content of jawbone has been provided by using of non-destructive method – XRF (X-ray Fluorescent Spectroscopy). This method allowed to identify for the 25 elements in 35 seconds without sample preparation step. Used equipment has follow parameters: Excitation Source Xray tube, Ta anode, 10-40 keV, 5-50 µA, five filter positions and detector: Si Pin diode, thermo-electrically cooled, with resolution <280 eV.
Acknowledgment: This work has been done in frame of the IAEA Regional project 8/015- “Using Nuclear Techniques for the Characterisation and Preservation of Cultural Heritage Artefacts in the European Region”.