This month’s Reading Recommendation comes from SAS VP for Social Media Vana Orfanou and VP for Member Communications Braden Cordivari, who recommend an interesting new paper on lead isotope analysis recently published in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, titled “Observations on sample size for lead isotopic analysis of ancient copper alloys.” In this paper, Frederik Rademakers, Patrick Degryse, Elvira Vassileva, and Frank Vanhaecke analyze certified reference materials using multi-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) to assess the effect of different sample masses on lead isotope ratios. They find that there is variability in the results, which they show primarily derives from low sample masses, particularly those less than 20 mg and particularly for samples with low lead concentrations. The authors recommend a minimum sample mass of 20-30 mg in order to avoid these issues. They also note that their findings suggest it is better to run a single analysis of larger sample mass than to subdivide into multiple samples of less optimal mass, which may lead to unrepresentative results. Archaeometallurgists are always balancing being as minimally invasive as possible while still obtaining accurate and reliable data, and this paper helps establish a benchmark for guiding responsible sampling.

Rademakers, F.W., Degryse, P., Vassilieva, E., Vanhaecke, F., 2026. Observations on sample size for lead isotopic analysis of ancient copper alloys. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5JA00416K