Study of archaeological ceramics from the north coast of Peru by EDXRF and exploratory multivariate analysis.

This article presents the first results for elemental composition of 193 fragments ceramic from four sites located in Ventarrón-Collud archaeological complex, Peru. The results from EDXRF and multivariate analysis indicated statistical similarity among four groups of ceramic fragments, selected by remarkable stylistic variation, collected from different archaeological space/time contexts. The correspondence in the elemental composition of the ceramic paste of the artifacts corroborates the hypothesis that similar raw materials were used consistently throughout the entire occupation of this archaeological complex.