PONE-D-25-03353Multi-method strategies for provenance determination of coarse-grained igneous rocks: Non-destructive, portable, and quantitative approachesPLOS ONE

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: This is a fine study on this one stone sculpture, using an appropriate multi-method approach.

You should make clear the sequence of analytical methods used, and if there was any selection in reducing the number of tests.

It should be made clear that pXRF calibration is needed for potential comparison of data between labs and different instruments. In your case, the analyses of multiple spots supported the reliability of your results and interpretation, while accuracy of your elemental data is good for your report for future studies.

Where you discuss Figure 5 (lines 197 onward), need to make clear what the different symbols (open squares, filled circles, filled hexagons) mean. For the pXRF elemental analysis, indicate which elements are represented in the bar graph.

In Figure 6A, where is the sculpture (asterisk)? It should be as clear as you have for 6B and 6C. Or not in the range of this map?

In Conclusion, indicate the distance from where the sculpture is to its geological source.

Are there any other sculptures at this site or elsewhere in the Haman area that might be tested in the future? This would be very informative for any patterns in the use of particular stone for these and other sculptures. Possible future research?

Minor corrections:

line 23: delete "the" and insert "were" after "They"

line 25: insert a word before "subsurface". "a" ?

line 69: Add "the" before "target", and before "stone Bodhisattva"

line 93: add "a" before "geological"

lines 166-167: remove the space between the numbers and % (5%, 13%

line 192: insert "the" before "provenance"

line 202: insert "the" before "HA09 site"

line 216: make clearer what is in Table 1, here in the text and in the caption.

line 232: insert "a" before "selected"

line 282: insert "this" before "sculpture"

Reviewer #2: The research work seems novel to me, as it helps to carry out non-destructive research studies on archaeological materials composed of plutonic rocks with visible crystal sizes. The authors have been able to tackle the problem, using several different methods and understanding the genesis of these plutonic rocks. The text is very well articulated and in very clear language.

Below I point out some formal issues regarding the text:

1. Figure 1 should have a world map to later locate the map of Korea. To avoid confusion, the blue color of the map should be written: Korean Sea.

2. In Figure 6A, the location of the star that indicates the sculpture is not clearly visible.

3. A figure with more detailed photographs of the texture and size of crystals is missing (as far as possible), comparing the rock of the sculpture with the source rock.

4. Has the quarry or signs of quarrying been found? I imagine that this point in question is unlikely. Unless this rock was chosen to build other buildings.

5. Are the sedimentary layers widely distributed around the sculpture formed in terrestrial environments during the Cretaceous period? Are they not typical of marine environments?

6. Is the plutonic rock a tonalite or granodiorite? The mineralogy suggests that it is an intermediate facies.

7. On line 179 it says: “This pattern is considered to be the results of the differentiation process during magma cooling that formed the plutons”. This is true, coinciding with the observation made previously on the presence of enclaves, the abundance of biotite and hornblende, and the scarcity of alkaline feldspar. In principle, more mafic minerals accumulate in the magmatic differentiation process. The existence of biotite and hornblende (rich in Fe and Ti), are a strong argument to explain the high values of FeO and TiO2 existing in the rock corresponding to the sculpture. In parallel, the low presence of alkaline feldspar in this same rock is responsible for the low content of K2O and SiO2. It would have been very good to be able to check the reaction textures in the different enclaves, an issue that is not the subject of this research, since it is only possible through destructive petrographic methods.

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Reviewer #1: Yes:  Robert H. Tykot

Reviewer #2: No

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Multi-method strategies for provenance determination of coarse-grained igneous rocks: Non-destructive, portable, and quantitative approaches

PONE-D-25-03353R1

Dear Dr. Lee,

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Academic Editor

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