The first part of this paper is a brief critical history of the use of Pb isotopes for inferring the geological provenance of archaeological materials, with an emphasis on non‐ferrous metals. The second part examines variation in the Pb isotopic ratios of oxide and sulphide ore minerals in selected regions of the world, and relates these to the geological histories of ore formation in each region. This exercise shows that in regions where most ore deposits are of similar geological age—as in the Andes, Europe and the circum‐Mediterranean—provenance analysis with Pb isotopes is inherently difficult because geographically distant sources often exhibit similar isotopic ratios. Conversely, regions with many periods of ore formation—such as southern Africa—appear to be very promising regions for future studies of provenance with Pb isotopes. The wider implication of this exploratory survey is that archaeologists should carefully consider the range and clustering of geological Pb isotopic ratios in their regions of interest before investing large sums of money into Pb isotopic analysis of artefacts.

中文翻译：

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在古冶金中使用铅同位素进行物产的地质限制

本文的第一部分是使用Pb同位素推断考古材料的地质起源的简要历史，重点是有色金属。第二部分研究了世界特定区域中氧化物和硫化物矿石矿物的Pb同位素比的变化，并将其与每个区域中矿石形成的地质历史联系起来。此练习表明，在大多数矿石矿床具有相似地质年龄的地区（例如在安第斯山脉，欧洲和地中海南部），利用Pb同位素进行来源分析固有地是困难的，因为地理位置遥远的来源通常表现出相似的同位素比。相反，矿床形成期很多的地区（例如南部非洲）对于未来铅同位素的来源研究似乎是非常有前途的地区。