4. Conclusion
XRF spectrometry analysis confirms the homogeneity of well
defined industries as group VWXY of the so-called Late Mleiha
ware, and the variability of chemical composition for some other
groups as KLMO of Grey and Black wares. The absence of chemical
similarity between wares previously correlated on the base of the
macroscopic observation does not rule out the possibility of a
similar origin. Variations in elemental composition could be due to
variations in the clay used by the same potter, or due to differences
in production sites.
On the other hand XRF analysis brings new insights never
determined by simple macroscopic observation. For instance the
strong relation between the samples of Late Mleiha ware and the
collection of Indian imports. Confirmation of a possible Indian
origin for that industry must be found by relating a larger set of
samples with potsherds collected in India. The absence of related
values between any groups of wares with the local sediments
collected at Mleiha has prompted the investigation of other
possible sources for raw materials within or around Mleiha.
These results are preliminary indications in a long term study
whose aim is to define regional potteries in Arabia in antiquity,
confronted to overseas imports. To increase the reliability of the
results, next step of XRF spectrometry analysis must be based on
larger sets of reference, to define each ware by an average of 20
samples. Such groups could be confidently compared to one
another or serve as original production references to be compared
with isolated findings.