Fragments of Large Roman Statuary in the Museum of Catania, Sicily: Review of Stefania Pafumi's 2020 Disiecta membra. Frammenti di statuaria bronzea di età romana del Museo Civico di Catania

n/

Tapada da Ajuda (Lisbon, Portugal) bronze age pin

A pin made of a copper-based alloy, found at Tapada da Ajuda (Lisbon, Portugal), a site dated to the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, was analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy and examined by microscopy. The results of this study and the unusual manufacturing technique of the pin are presented and discussed in this paper. Typology and production technique of this object seem to indicate a Central European origininfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Argento romano e ricette alchimistiche: tre esempi di leghe d'argento da Emona

Avtorica obravnava tri predmete iz Emone, ki so bili analizirani z ICP metodo. Predmeti so izdelani iz treh različnih srebrnih zlitin. Posebej poglobljeno obravnava zlitino, ki vsebuje srebro, baker, arzen in antimon in jo poveže z rimskimi alkimističnimi recepti.The author discusses three artefacts from Emona that were analysed using the ICP method. The artefacts are made of three various silver alloys. She discusses the alloy containing silver, copper, arsenic and antimony in greater detail and she correlates it with Roman alchemical recipes

The Metallurgy of the Sicilian Final Bronze Age/Early Iron Age necropolis of Madonna del Piano (Catania, Sicily)

El artículo presenta el resultado de los análisis realizados a los metales de base cobre de la importante necrópolis siciliana de Madonna del Piano, próxima a Grammichele (Catania), fechada entre el Bronce Final 2 y la Primera Edad del Hierro IA. Se han estudiado un total de 122 objetos de base cobre procedentes de 273 tumbas excavadas entre 1970 y 1971. Los objetos muestreados pertenecen a diferentes tipos, armas ofensivas y defensivas tales como espadas y grebas, pequeños objetos de uso personal como anillos, fíbulas, broches de cinturón y pequeñas herramientas como cuchillos usados por las mujeres, carretes, agujas, navajas, pero también elementos funcionales como remaches, clavos y un tipo de instrumento como el tintinábulo. Los métodos de análisis utilizados fueron AAS y SEM, cuando fue posible y XRF para todos los casos. El objetivo de esta investigación es evaluar la habilidad de los artesanos locales y determinar el tipo de aleación más común en Sicilia durante este período, comparando los datos con los resultados obtenidos en grupos de hallazgos contemporáneos de otras partes de la península italiana y otras regiones europeas

Le procédé de blanchiment dans les ateliers monétaires français au XV-XVIème siècle: approche archéométrique et expérimentale

In the late nineties, excavations in La Rochelle (France) have discovered the remains of a royal mint of the sixteenth century. This discovery enabled the collection of artefacts directly related to the manufacture of coins. The exceptional corpus gathered is the subject of a study of the chaîne opératoire of coining in the medieval time. Special attention is paid to an operation which takes place before the strike: the blanching of blanks. Well documented in ancient times, the samples from La Rochelle offer the opportunity to study this process during the medieval period and in a royal mint. In addition, thanks to reconstitution experiments, it is possible to define a reaction mechanism that helps to understand our historical observations.[fr] À la fin des années quatre-vingtdix, des fouilles menées à La Rochelle (France) ont permis de mettre au jour les vestiges d’un atelier monétaire royal du XVIe siècle. Cette découverte a permis la collecte de matériel directement liée à la fabrication monétaire. Le corpus exceptionnel rassemblé est l’objet d’une étude qui vise à mettre en évidence la chaîne opératoire de fabrication de monnaie à l’époque considérée. Un intérêt particulier est porté à une technique d’argenture qui intervient avant la frappe des monnaies, le blanchiment des flans. Bien documenté pour les périodes antiques, le matériel de La Rochelle offre la possibilité de mettre en évidence ce procédé pour une période plus récente et dans un cadre officiel. De plus, à partir d’expériences de reconstitution, il a été possible de proposer un mécanisme réactionnel. Les hypothèses proposées permettent alors de dégager des implications historiques dans le procédé de fabrication

FIB-FESEM and EMPA results on Antoninianus silver coins for manufacturing and corrosion processes

[EN] A set of ancient Antoninianus silver coins, dating back between 249 and 274¿A.D. and minted in Rome, Galliae, Orient and Ticinum, have been characterized. We use, for the first time, a combination of nano-invasive (focused ion beam-field emission scanning electron microscopy-X-ray microanalysis (FIB-FESEM-EDX), voltammetry of microparticles (VIMP)) and destructive techniques (scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) and electron microprobe analysis (EMPA)) along with non-invasive, i.e., micro-Raman spectroscopy. The results revealed that, contrary to the extended belief, a complex Ag-Cu-Pb-Sn alloy was used. The use of alloys was common in the flourishing years of the Roman Empire. In the prosperous periods, Romans produced Ag-Cu alloys with relatively high silver content for the manufacture of both the external layers and inner nucleus of coins. This study also revealed that, although surface silvering processes were applied in different periods of crisis under the reign of Antoninii, even during crisis, Romans produced Antoninianus of high quality. Moreover, a first attempt to improve the silvering procedure using Hg-Ag amalgam has been identified.Financial support was provided by Sapienza University of Rome (Ateneo funding, 2014 15) and Spanish projects CTQ2014-53736-C3-1-P and CTQ2014-53736-C3-2-P, which are supported with Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (ERDF) funds, as well as project CTQ2017-85317-C2-1-P supported with funds from, MINECO, ERDF and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI). PhD grants of the Department of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, are gratefully acknowledgedDomenech Carbo, MT.; Di Turo, F.; Montoya, N.; Catalli, F.; Doménech Carbó, A.; De Vito, C. (2018). FIB-FESEM and EMPA results on Antoninianus silver coins for manufacturing and corrosion processes. Scientific Reports. 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-28990-xS8Doménech-Carbó, A., del Hoyo-Meléndez, J. M., Doménech-Carbó, M. T. & Piquero-Cilla, J. Electrochemical analysis of the first Polish coins using voltammetry of immobilized particles. Microchem. J. 130, 47–55 (2017).Di Turo, F. et al. Archaeometric analysis of Roman bronze coins from the Magna Mater temple using solid-state voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Anal. Chim. Acta 955, 36–47 (2017).Doménech-Carbó, A., Doménech-Carbó, M. T. & Peiró-Ronda, M. A. Dating Archeological Lead Artifacts from Measurement of the Corrosion Content Using the Voltammetry of Microparticles. Anal. Chem. 83, 5639–5644 (2011).Giumlia-Mair, A. et al. Surface characterisation techniques in the study and conservation of art and archaeological artefacts: a review. Materials Technology 25(5), 245–261 (2010).Robbiola, L. & Portier, R. A global approach to the authentication of ancient bronzes based on the characterization of the alloy–patina–environment system. Journal of Cultural Heritage 7, 1–12 (2006).Campbell, W. Greek and Roman plated coins, Numismatics Notes and Monographs 57, American Numismatic Society, New York (1933).Kallithrakas-Kontos, N., Katsanos, A. A. & Touratsoglou, J. Trace element analysis of Alexander the Great’s silver tetradrachms minted in Macedonia, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics. Research B 171, 342–349 (2000).Catalli, F. Numismatica greca e romana. (Libreria dello Stato, 2003).Cope, L. H. The Metallurgical development of the Roman Imperial Coinage during the first five centuries. (Liverpool, 1974).Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Historia Augusta. (The Perfect Library, 2014).Vlachou-Mogire, C., Stern, B. & McDonnell, J. G. The application of LA-ICP-MS in the examination of the thin plating layers found in late Roman coins. Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. with Mater. Atoms 265, 558–568 (2007).Keturakis, C. J. et al. Analysis of corrosion layers in ancient Roman silver coins with high resolution surface spectroscopic techniques. Appl. Surf. Sci. 376, 241–251 (2016).Ingo, G. M. et al. Roman sophisticated surface modification methods to manufacture silver counterfeited coins. Appl. Surf. Sci. 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.01.101 (2017).La Niece, S. In: La Niece S. & Craddock, P. (Eds), Metal, Plating and Platination, Butterworth–Heinemann, London, 1993, p. 201.Anheuser, K. & France, P. Silver plating technology of the late 3rd century Roman coinage. Historical Metallurgy 36(1), 17–23 (2002).Anheuser, K. & Northover, P. Silver plating on Roman and Celtic coins from Britain– A technical study. The British Numismatic Journal 64, 22–32 (1994).Anheuser, K. Where is all the amalgam silvering? Materials Issues1996 in Art and Archaeology - V proceedings, Boston.Beck, L. et al. In NIM 269, 2011 and in Counterfeit coinage of the Holy Roman Empire in the 16th century: silvering process and archaeometallurgical replications, Archaeometallurgy in Europe III.Deraisme, A., Beck, L., Pilon, F. & Barrandon, J. N. A study of the silvering process of the Gallo-Roman coins forged during the third century AD. Archaeometry 48, 469–480 (2006).Giumlia-Mair, A. On surface analysis and archaeometallurgy. Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. with Mater. Atoms 239, 35–43 (2005).Tate, J. Some problems in analysing museum material by nondestructive surface sensitive techniques. Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, B, 14 (1), pp. 20–23 (1986).Beck, L., Bosonnet, S., Réveillon, S., Eliot, D. & Pilon, F. Silver surface enrichment of silver-copper alloys: A limitation for the analysis of ancient silver coins by surface techniques. Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. with Mater. Atoms 226, 153–162 (2004).Pardini, L. et al. X-ray fluorescence and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy analysis of Roman silver denarii. Spectrochim. Acta - Part B At. Spectrosc. 74–75, 156–161 (2012).Klockenkämper, R., Bubert, H. & Hasler, K. Detection of near-surface silver enrichment on Roman imperial silver coins by x-ray spectral analysis. Archaeometry 41, 311–320 (1999).Ponting, M., Evans, J. A. & Pashley, V. Fingerprinting of roman mints using laser-amblation MC-ICP-MS lead isotope analysis.Del Hoyo-Meléndez, J. M. et al. Micro-XRF analysis of silver coins from medieval Poland. Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. with Mater. Atoms 349, 6–16 (2015).Cesare Brandi. Il restauro. Teoria e pratica (1939–1986). (Editori Riuniti, 2009).Barberio, M., Veltri, S., Scisciò, M. & Antici, P. Laser-Accelerated Proton Beams as Diagnostics for Cultural Heritage. Sci. Rep. 7, 40415 (2017).Linke, R., Sehreiner, M., Demortier, G., Alram, M. & Winter, H. Non-Destructive Microanalysis of Cultural Heritage Materials. Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry 42, (Elsevier, 2004).Łojewska, J. et al. Recognizing ancient papyri by a combination of spectroscopic, diffractional and chromatographic analytical tools. Sci. Rep. 7, 46236 (2017).Meulebroeck, W., Wouters, H., Nys, K. & Thienpont, H. Authenticity screening of stained glass windows using optical spectroscopy. Nat. Sci. Reports 6 37726, 1–10 (2016).Martina, I., Wiesinger, R. & Schreiner, M. Micro-Raman Characterisation of Silver Corrosion Products: Instrumental Set Up and Reference. e-Preservation. Sci. Rep 9, 1–8 (2012).Rizzo, F. et al. Non-destructive determination of the silver content in Roman coins (nummi), dated to 308–311 A. D., by the combined use of PIXE-alpha, XRF and DPAA techniques. Microchem. J. 97, 286–290 (2011).Carl, M. & Young, M. L. Complementary analytical methods for analysis of Ag-plated cultural heritage objects. Microchem. J. 126, 307–315 (2016).Cepriá, G., Abadías, O., Pérez-Arantegui, J. & Castillo, J. R. Electrochemical Behavior of Silver-Copper Alloys in Voltammetry of Microparticles: A Simple Method for Screening Purposes. Electroanalysis 13, 477–483 (2001).Capelo, S., Homem, P. M., Cavalheiro, J. & Fonseca, I. T. E. Linear sweep voltammetry: a cheap and powerful technique for the identification of the silver tarnish layer constituents. J. Solid State Electrochem. 17, 223–234 (2013).Doménech-Carbó, A. et al. Detection of archaeological forgeries of Iberian lead plates using nanoelectrochemical techniques. The lot of fake plates from Bugarra (Spain). Forensic Sci. Int. 247, 79–88 (2015).Doménech-Carbó, A., Doménech-Carbó, M. T. & Peiró-Ronda, M. A. ‘One-Touch’ Voltammetry of Microparticles for the Identification of Corrosion Products in Archaeological Lead. Electroanalysis 23, 1391–1400 (2011).Doménech-Carbó, A., Doménech-Carbó, M. T., Montagna, E., Álvarez-Romero, C. & Lee, Y. Electrochemical discrimination of mints: The last Chinese emperors Kuang Hsü and Hsüan T’ung monetary unification. Talanta1 69, 50–56 (2017).Ager, F. J. et al. Combining XRF and GRT for the analysis of ancient silver coins. Microchem. J. 126, 149–154 (2016).Fawcett, T., Blanton, J., Blanton, T., Arias, L. & Suscavage, T. Non-destructive evaluation of Roman coin patinas from the 3rd and 4th century. Powder Diffraction, 1–10.Salvemini, F. et al. Neutron tomographic analysis: Material characterization of silver and electrum coins from the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. Mater. Charact. 118, 175–185 (2016).Ashkenazi, D., Gitler, H., Stern, A. & Tal, O. Metallurgical investigation on fourth century BCE silver jewellery of two hoards from Samaria. Sci. Rep. 7, 40659 (2017).Romano, F. P., Garraffo, S., Pappalardo, L. & Rizzo, F. In situ investigation of the surface silvering of late Roman coins by combined use of high energy broad-beam and low energy micro-beam X-ray fluorescence techniques. Spectrochim. Acta - Part B At. Spectrosc. 73, 13–19 (2012).Ingo, G. M. et al. Ancient Mercury-Based Plating Methods: Combined Use of Surface Analytical Techniques for the Study of Manufacturing Process and Degradation Phenomena. Accounts of Chemical Research 46(11), 2365–2375.Pouchou, J. L. & Pichoir, F.¨PAP¨ (ϕ–ρ–Z) procedure for improved quantitative microanalysis, in: Armstrong, J. T. (Ed.), Microbeam Analysis, San Francisco Press, San Francisco, pp. 104–106 (1985)

Influence of environment on the corrosion of glass–metal connections

'Glass sensors' of the eighteenth century Backer glass and the sixteenth century enamel from Limoges have been chosen for a series of experiments. Combinations of these materials with different base materials such as copper and bronze has been investigated. To create surface changes on the 'glass sensor', a corrosion process was induced in a controlled environment. A variety of corrosive agents such as hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, water and formaldehyde were used. The sample immersed in the corrosive solution was exposed alternately to light and high temperature for a total of 38 weeks. During this period, macroscopic and microscopic observations were made and series of tests such as SEM/EDS and Raman spectroscopy were performed on the surface of the samples. ICP-MS methods were used to determine the change in the chemical composition of the solutions where the samples had corroded. The primary aim of this study was to identify the impact of a number of external corrosive variables such as temperature, humidity and local environment to identify the most damaging environments for glass–metal objects. The obtained results showed the chemical and physical phenomena acting on the surface of the glass, metal or in the place of their joints. Information obtained on this study was used to explain the influence of the environment on the surface of glass–metal materials. Results can be used in the design of conservation work as well as for sustainable conservation

Metal alloys, matrix inclusions and manufacturing techniques of Moinhos de Golas collection (North Portugal): a study by micro-EDXRF, SEM–EDS, optical microscopy and X-ray radiography

"Article:820"A collection of 35 metallic artefacts comprising various typologies, some of which can be attributed to the Bronze Age and others to later periods, were studied to provide detailed information on elemental composition, manufacturing techniques and preservation state. Elemental analysis by micro-EDXRF and SEM–EDS was performed to investigate the use of different alloys and to study the presence of microstructural heterogeneities, as inclusions. X-ray radiography, optical microscopy and SEM–EDS were used to investigate manufacturing techniques and degradation features. Results showed that most of the artefacts were produced in a binary bronze alloy (Cu–Sn) with 10–15 wt% Sn and a low concentration of impurities. Other artefacts were produced in copper or in brass, the latest with varying contents of Zn, Sn and Pb. A variety of inclusions in the metal matrices were also found, some related to specific types of alloys, as (Cu–Ni)S2 in coppers, or ZnS in brasses. Microstructural observations revealed that the majority of the artefacts were subjected to cycles of thermomechanical processing after casting, being evident that among some artefacts different parts were subjected to distinct treatments. The radiographic images revealed structural heterogeneities related to local corrosion processes and fissures that seem to have developed in wear-tension zones, as in the handle of some daggers. Radiographic images were also useful to detect the use of different materials in one particular brass artefact, revealing the presence of a possible Cu–Sn solder.This work was funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT— Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia under the project UID/CTM/ 50025/2013 to CENIMAT/I3N. C2 TN/IST authors gratefully acknowledge the FCT support through the UID/Multi/04349/2013 project. EF acknowledges FCT for the grant SFRH/BPD/97360/2013. JF acknowledge FCT for the grant SFRH/BD/65143/2009. Part of this project has been done in the framework of the FCT project ENARDAS (PTDC/HISARQ/112983/2009).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio