Analysis of the elemental composition of the artefacts from the Kosewo archaeological site

The Migration Period on the present Polish territories is considered as a time of depopulation of Oder, Warta, and Vistula basins. The prerequisite for such assumption is lack of the archaeological finds in these regions. In contrast, on the Mrągowo Lake District and in the Lyna basin, one can find wealth of burial crematory equipped with items from the Roman period and made in the Germanic style. The analyses using the physics techniques gives an opportunity to the meeting of history with the contemporary times and the lost things may see the light of present day. The discovered artefacts may constitute a source of knowledge, which, after analysis, will be able to fill the gaps on the map of settlements in the Polish territories. The energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence system was used to analyze the set of Polish archaeological artefacts found in an excavation in Masurian Lakes District. The compact X-ray tube developed in the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) was used as an X-ray source in the system designed for the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence studies. The X-ray fluorescence spectra of the artefacts were registered with the Amptek SDD spectrometer and the concentrations of elements were determined. The measurements show that the X-ray system developed in NCBJ with transmission type X-ray tube and the Amptek SDD spectrometer is an effective tool for chemical composition analyses of archaeological objects and can be successfully applied in archaeometry.