R. Speakman, M. Shackley
Feb 1, 2013
Citations
2
Influential Citations
172
Citations
Quality indicators
Journal
Journal of Archaeological Science
Abstract
Abstract A recent study by Frahm (2013) on the application of portable XRF (PXRF) for chemical characterization of obsidian ignores fundamental issues of reliability and validity in the measurements, and justifies “internally consistent” measurements as acceptable. We argue this form of science is unacceptable, point out several flaws in Frahm's paper, and provide some examples of PXRF measurements that are valid and reliable and conform to international standards as published.