Studying the origin and use of the oldest prehistoric pottery in north Belgium using high-end mass spectrometric methods

Prehistoric pottery sherds from the Scheldt basin will be analyzed via high-end mass spectrometric techniques. Elemental “fingerprinting” and isotopic analysis of selected elements within the clay fraction will be relied on for provenancing the clay. Compound-specific isotopic analysis of absorbed organic residues will reveal the diet of the users, which will also aid in adequate sampling for reliable radiocarbon dating.