Non-Destructive SR-XRF Analysis of Ancient Mamluk-Ayyubid Glazed Pottery Fragments from Karak Castle, Jordan

Sixteen Ayyubid-Mamluk glazed pottery sherds were analyzed in order to identify and characterize the elemental composition to determine their provenance. The tested sherds were collected from the historical site of Karak Castle, southern Jordan. Chemical analysis for the sixteen samples has been carried out using Synchrotron Radiation X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (SR-XRF) Technique. Furthermore, the semiquantitative analysis of the elements Fe – Cu – Zn – Br – Rb – Sr – Y – Zr – Nb – Mo – Pd – Ag – Cd and Pb has been performed for the samples based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and hierarchical Cluster Analysis with Bray-Curtis in order to define grouping of different glazed pottery by obtaining information on their similarity and clustering. The results of chemical analysis provided persuasive evidence that the Karak Castle pottery sherds have at least three different sources of provenance.