Transdisciplinary approach to archaeological investigations in a Semantic Web perspective

In recent years, the transdisciplinarity of archaeological studies has greatly increased because of the mature interactions between archaeologists and scientists from different disciplines (called "archaeometers"). A number of diverse scientific disciplines collaborate to get an objective account of the archaeological records. A large amount of digital data support the whole process, and there is a great value in keeping the coherence of information and knowledge, as contributed by each intervening discipline. During the years, a number of representation models have been developed to account for the recording of the archaeological process in data bases. Lately, some semantic models, compliant with the CRMarchaeo reference model, have been developed to account for linking the institutional forms with the formal knowledge concerning the archaeological excavations and the related findings. On the contrary, the archaeometric processes have not been addressed yet in the Semantic Web community and only an upper reference model, called CRMsci, accounts for the representation of the scientific investigations in general. This paper presents a modular computational ontology for the interlinked representation of all the facts related to the archaeological and archaeometric analyses and interpretations, also connected to the recording catalogues. The computational ontology is compliant with CIDOC-CRM reference models CRMarchaeo and CRMsci and introduces a number of novel classes and properties to merge the two worlds in a joint representation. The ontology is in use in "Beyond Archaeology", a methodological project for the establishing of a transdisciplinary approach to archaeology and archaeometry, interlinked through a semantic model of processes and objects

Realisation and characterisation of Cu-based references for neutron imaging calibration purposes and first results

The long-term purpose of this study is to assess the capabilities of the new Neutron Imaging beamline developed at the LENA facility of Pavia (Italy) for the characterisation of bronze artefacts. In this preliminary work, a set of Cu-based reference alloys has been produced and analysed in order to test and calibrate the facility. The first step involved the production of Cu-based alloys with chemical composition and microstructure similar to ancient artefacts. The chemical composition of the reference alloys was analysed by Optical Emission Spectroscopy. Secondly, some samples were artificially patinated with different chemical treatments obtaining an artificial corrosion products layer comparable to natural corrosion. X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Raman Spectroscopy have been used to characterise the corrosion patina. The main corrosion products on sulphate-induced patina are cuprite and brochantite, whereas atacamite and clinoatacamite were detected on chloride-induced patinas. Finally, preliminary Neutron Imaging measurements were performed on a first set of coated and uncoated specimens in order to try to correlate the neutrons attenuation coefficients with the chemical compositions with promising results

X-ray Imaging Investigation on the Gilding Technique of an Ancient Egyptian Taweret Wooden Statuette

Diagnostic physical methods are increasingly applied to Cultural Heritage both for scientific investigations and conservation purposes. In particular, the X-ray imaging techniques of computed tomography (CT) and digital radiography (DR) are non-destructive investigation methods to study an object, being able to give information on its inner structure. In this paper, we present the results of the X-ray imaging study on an ancient Egyptian statuette (Late Period 722–30 BCE) belonging to the collection of Museo Egizio in Torino and representing an Egyptian goddess called Taweret, carved on wood and gilded with some colored details. Since few specific studies have been focused on materials and techniques used in Ancient Egypt for gilding, a detailed investigation was started in order to verify the technical features of the decoration in this sculpture. Specifically, DR and CT analyses have been performed at the Centro Conservazione e Restauro “La Venaria Reale” (CCR), with a new high resolution flat-panel detector, that allowed us to perform tomographic analysis reaching a final resolution better than the one achievable with the previous apparatus operating in the CCR

An Ancient Egyptian Multilayered Polychrome Wooden Sculpture Belonging to the Museo Egizio of Torino: Characterization of Painting Materials and Design of Cleaning Processes by Means of Highly Retentive Hydrogels

This contribution focuses on the conservation of an Egyptian wooden sculpture (Inventory Number Cat. 745) belonging to the Museo Egizio of Torino in northwest Italy. A preliminary and interdisciplinary study of constituent painting materials and their layering is here provided. It was conducted by means of a multi-technique approach starting from non-invasive multispectral analysis on the whole object, and subsequently, on selected micro-samples. In particular, visible fluorescence induced by ultraviolet radiation (UVF), infrared reflectography (IRR) and visible--induced infrared luminescence were used on the whole object. The micro-samples were analysed by means of an optical microscope with visible and UV light sources, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (Py-GC/MS) and micro-particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE). The characterization of the painting materials allowed the detection of Egyptian blue and Egyptian green, and also confirmed the pertinence of the top brown layer to the original materials, which is a key point to design a suitable surface treatment. In fact, due to the water sensitiveness of the original materials, only few options were available to perform cleaning operations on this artwork. To setup the cleaning procedure, we performed several preliminary tests on mockups using dry cleaning materials, commonly used to treat reactive surfaces, and innovative highly water retentive hydrogels, which can potentially limit the mechanical action on the original surface while proving excellent cleaning results. Overall, this study has proved fundamental to increase our knowledge on ancient Egyptian artistic techniques and contribute to hypothesize the possible provenance of the artefact. It also demonstrated that polyvinyl alcohol-based retentive gels allow for the safe and efficient cleaning of extremely water sensitive painted surfaces, as those typical of ancient Egyptian artefacts

Age determination and authentication of ceramics: advancements in the thermoluminescence dating laboratory in Torino (Italy)

13Classified as an absolute dating method, thermoluminescence (TL) is a well-established radiation-based technique for the age determination and authentication of ceramic materials. Specifically, this method allows the determination of the time elapsed since kiln firing (or later fire events) by evaluating the luminescent emission of ceramics under heating at high temperatures. This paper provides a comprehensive presentation of the TL laboratory developed over the last decade at the Physics Department of the University of Torino. The laboratory was set up in collaboration with TecnArt S.r.l. and is also currently operating within the cultural heritage network of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN-CHNet). More than 10 years of experience in the field has resulted in improvements in procedures, with the development of customised alpha- and beta-irradiation systems and the optimisation of sampling approaches and chemical pre-treatment. Thanks to TecnArt S.r.l., the laboratory has been employed for dating and authenticating hundreds of archaeological sites and artworks, some of which are discussed in this work and compared, when possible, with radiocarbon dating.openopenGuidorzi, Laura; Fantino, Fulvio; Durisi, Elisabetta; Ferrero, Marco; Re, Alessandro; Vigorelli, Luisa; Visca, Lorenzo; Gulmini, Monica; Dughera, Giovanni; Giraudo, Giuseppe; Angelici, Debora; Panero, Elisa; Lo Giudice, AlessandroGuidorzi, Laura; Fantino, Fulvio; Durisi, Elisabetta; Ferrero, Marco; Re, Alessandro; Vigorelli, Luisa; Visca, Lorenzo; Gulmini, Monica; Dughera, Giovanni; Giraudo, Giuseppe; Angelici, Debora; Panero, Elisa; Lo Giudice, Alessandr

Diamond-based sensors for in vitro cellular radiobiology: Simultaneous detection of cell exocytic activity and ionizing radiation

The investigation of secondary effects induced by ionizing radiation represents a new and ever-growing research field in radiobiology. This new paradigm cannot be investigated only using standard instrumentation and methodologies, but rather requires novel technologies to achieve significant progress. In this framework, we developed diamond-based sensors that allow simultaneous real-time measurements with a high spatial resolution of the secretory activity of a network of cells cultured on the device, as well as of the dose at which they are exposed during irradiation experiments. The devices were functionally characterized by testing both the above-mentioned detection schemes, namely: amperometric measurements of neurotransmitter release from excitable cells (such as dopamine or adrenaline) and dosimetric evaluation using different ionizing particles (alpha particle and X-ray photons). Finally, the sensors were employed to investigate the effects induced by X-rays on the exocytotic activity of PC12 neuroendocrine cells by monitoring the modulation of the dopamine release in real-time