Justification for reassessing elemental analysis data of ceramics, sediments and lithics using rare earth element concentrations and ratios

The mensuration of multi-elemental concentrations from assorted archaeological materials has always required great care and attention to detail to ensure good-quality data and their ensuing interpretations. Although most suspect data were generated before the wide use of computers, error-free data are not still a certainty. This paper presents the geochemical rationale for a proposed chemical data-assessment process, using a globally dispersed collection of ceramic, sediment and lithic data. It is argued that this process can allow archaeologists and archaeometrists to investigate systematically older and current data sets and, if need be, alter them to the reliable values they were originally intended to include.