Improvements to the analytical protocol of lapis lazuli provenance: First study on Myanmar rock samples

The study of lapis lazuli is important to find out information about the provenance of a material used since the Neolithic Age for the manufacturing of precious carved artefacts. The Badakhshan deposits in Afghanistan are commonly considered as the main source of lapis lazuli in ancient times. However, other quarries could have possibly been exploited since antiquity. A protocol to distinguish the provenance of lapis lazuli rocks among four...