Laser ablation single-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for lead isotopic analysis to investigate evolution of the Bilbilis mint Original Research Article

This work explores the performance of laser ablation—inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using different types of single-collector devices (sector field and time-of-flight instrumentation) for lead isotopic analysis of bronze coins, minted in the ancient city of Bilbilis. The aim of the study was achieving sufficient discrimination power to reveal similarities and differences for coins originating from different historical periods, and to obtain information on the possible source of the lead ores used in their production, while restricting the damage inflicted to the samples such that it is not visible to the naked eye. It was found that satisfactory results (RSD in the 0.15–0.30% range for 207Pb/206Pb and 208Pb/206Pb ratios) could be finally obtained, despite the noisy nature of signals generated upon ablation of the highly inhomogeneous coins, by means of a methodology based on: (a) selection of the line profiling ablation mode; (b) use of a dual pass spray chamber that permits the simultaneous introduction of a solution (containing thallium of known isotopic composition), thus resulting in a wet plasma that showed an increased robustness towards matrix effects and (c) detection using a TOF-ICPMS unit, which proved to be much better suited to deal with the transient signals obtained, while being also sufficiently sensitive to obtain good counting statistics, owing to the high lead level (average around 5%) present in the samples. Moreover, under these conditions, the simultaneous aspiration of the thallium spike permitted accurate correction for mass discrimination, such that it was not necessary to use external matrix-matched standards for calibration.