pXRF data of archaeological pottery from West Africa and data for reference groups for different regions

The geochemical data of pottery from sites in West Africa was obtained by using a pXRF. The pottery comes from the following archaeological sites: Birni Gazargamo (Niger), Birni Lafyia (Benin), Essouk Tadmekka (Mali), Gao (Mali), Garbey Koorou (Niger), Gorouberi (Benin), Kamaka (Chad), Karey Gorou (Niger), Marandet (Niger), Tié (Chad). Measurements were conducted using a Niton GOLDD+ portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) device from Thermo Fisher. A 50 kV and 100 mA tube with an Ag anode generates X-ray and the secondary radiation is detected by larger silicon drift detector. The diameter of the measurement window is 8mm. The “TestAll Geo” Mode was used as it is well suited for ceramics (Ezlami et al. 2020). The instrument was calibrated using 32 ceramic samples from the “Forschungstelle Keramik” of the Goethe University Frankfurt previously measured with WD-XRF (Furger & Helfert 2023), in order to ensure data comparability and usability by other researchers. Before measurements, the device was powered on for one hour to achieve thermal stability. A pottery standard was measured at regular intervals to ensure consistency. Each measurement took 330 seconds (filters: standard 60 sek; low 60; high 90; light 120) ensuring the accurate detection of lighter elements (Beck 2017, 56).