Documenting the Light Sensitivity of Spanish Levantine Rock Art Paintings.

A case study to evaluate the use of microfading spectrometry (MFS) for the study of colored systems found in prehistoric rock art paintings was conducted in the Cova Remígia rock-shelter, Castellón (Spain). This rock shelter is part of the rock art sites of the Mediterranean basin on the Iberian Peninsula included in UNESCO's World Heritage List. Some of the paintings belonging to this group are exposed to environmental factors including natural daylight, wind and rain, depending on the time of the day and the season of the year. Therefore, their preservation is a major concern to stakeholders and researchers responsible for protecting and studying these prehistoric paintings. The experimental work in Cova Remigia focused on measuring the reflectance curves (400-700 nm) and determining the photostability of various areas containing red and black pigments on the rock art paintings. The preliminary results indicate that MFS is a suitable technique for studying the response to light of rock/pigment systems found in rock art sites. The advantages and limitations of the technique are discussed

Konserwacja oraz technika wykonania dwóch malowanych chorągwi jedwabnych z kolekcji Książąt Czartoryskich.

The article presents conservation works and the technique of making of two silk, two-sided painted banners from the collection of National Museum in Kraków: the 16th-century banner of the Poznań or Mazowieckie voivodship (acc. no. MNK-XIV-882) and the 18th-century guard banner of Stanisław Poniatowski of the King of Poland (acc. no. MNK-XIV-883). The banners found their way to the collection of the Princes Czartoryski at the beginning of the 19th century. At that time, they were exhibited at the Sibyl Temple in Puławy, and then at the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Kraków. The selection of appropriate methods and means for conservation was difficult due to the high degree of silk degradation, the large number of loose fragments of fabrics, as well as the multi-layer technological structure of the objects. Secondary layers in the form of collagen membranes glued to the surface of the banners with a starch glue during historical conservation were also a problem. In order to remove them, positive results were obtained when using a steam scalpel and Gellan Gum compresses. However, for the temporary protection of the paint layer, a Cerex synthetic fabric was used with the use of Acrylharz P-550 acrylic resin. This resin was also used to spray silk crepelin, which was used to join separate pieces of the fabrics. In order to define the technique of making the banners, powder samples were collected for testing and analyzed using the fluorescence X-ray spectroscopy (XRF) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The cross-sections of the layers were observed in analytical lights using an optical microscope and tests were carried out using a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersion X-ray analysis (SEM / EDS).Artykuł omawia prace konserwatorskie oraz technikę wykonania dwóch jedwabnych dwustronnie malowanych chorągwi ze zbiorów Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie: szesnastowiecznej chorągwi województwa poznańskiego lub mazowieckiego, nr inw. MNK-XIV-882, oraz osiemnastowiecznej chorągwi gwardii Stanisława Poniatowskiego Króla Polskiego, nr inw. MNK-XIV-883. Chorągwie trafiły do kolekcji książąt Czartoryskich na początku XIX wieku i były eksponowane w Świątyni Sybilli w Puławach, a następnie w Muzeum Książąt Czartoryskich w Krakowie. Wybór odpowiednich metod i środków konserwacji chorągwi był trudny, zważywszy na wysoki stopień degradacji jedwabiu, dużą liczbę luźnych fragmentów tkanin oraz wielowarstwową budowę technologiczną obiektów. Problem stanowiły także warstwy wtórne w postaci błon kolagenowych naklejonych przy użyciu kleju skrobiowego na powierzchnię chorągwi podczas historycznej konserwacji. W celu ich skutecznego usunięcia zastosowano skalpel parowy oraz kompresy z żelu Gellan Gum. Natomiast do czasowego zabezpieczania warstwy malarskiej wykorzystano tkaninę syntetyczną Cerex, naklejoną przy użyciu żywicy akrylowej Acrylharz P-550. Żywica ta została także zastosowana do napylania jedwabnej krepeliny, która posłużyła do połączenia osobnych fragmentów tkanin. W celu określenia techniki wykonania chorągwi do badań pobrano próbki proszkowe, które poddano analizie z wykorzystaniem metody fluorescencji spektroskopii rentgenowskiej (XRF) oraz spektroskopii w podczerwieni z transformatą Fouriera (FTIR). Przekroje poprzeczne warstw poddano obserwacji w światłach analitycznych przy użyciu mikroskopu optycznego oraz przeprowadzono badania z wykorzystaniem skaningowego mikroskopu elektronowego z analizą rentgenowską z dyspersją energii (SEM-EDS)

Electrochemical analysis of the first Polish coins using voltammetry of immobilized particles

[EN] A series of 20 denarii from Boleslaus the Brave (992-1025) and Mieszko II Lambert (1025-1034), corresponding to the beginning of the Polish state were studied using the voltammetry of immobilized particles (VIMP) methodology. VIMP experiments, applied to nanosamples of the corrosion layers of the coins in contact with aqueous acetate buffer, provided well-defined responses mainly corresponding to the corrosion products of copper and lead. Such voltammetric responses, combined with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy experiments performed on the same set of coins, and complemented by focusing ion beam-field emission scanning electron microscope (FIB-FESEM) on silver coins from the 19th century, supported the hypothesis that two different metal sources were used in the former historical period and suggested that the coins were produced in three different mints. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserve.Financial support from the MINECO Projects CTQ2014-53736-C3-1-P and CTQ2014-53736-C3-2-P which are supported with ERDF funds is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are very grateful to the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for partly financing the work presented in this paper through a grant within the framework of the National Program for the Development of the Humanities (Decision No. 0100/NPRH3/H12/82/2014) and also wish to thank Dr. Jose Luis Moya Lopez and Mr. Manuel Planes Insausti (Microscopy Service of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia) for technical support.Doménech Carbó, A.; Del Hoyo Meléndez, JM.; Domenech Carbo, MT.; Piquero-Cilla, J. (2017). Electrochemical analysis of the first Polish coins using voltammetry of immobilized particles. Microchemical Journal. 130:47-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2016.07.020S475513

Micro-fading spectrometry: investigating the wavelength specificity of fading

A modified microfading spectrometer incorporating a linear variable filter is used to investigate the wavelength dependence of fading of traditional watercolour pigments, dosimeters and fading standards at a higher spectral resolution and/or sampling than had previously been attempted. While the wavelength dependence of photochemical damage was largely found to correlate well with the absorption spectra of each material, exceptions were found in the case of Prussian blue and Prussian green pigments (the latter includes Prussian blue), for which an anti-correlation between the spectral colour change and the absorption spectrum was found

Social Media Monitoring

El sistema desarrollado tiene como objetivo la integración y monitorización de la información en castellano de las redes sociales de un usuario (Facebook, Twitter y noticias web de interés) a través de una única aplicación web. El sistema se sustenta en tres componentes principales: un módulo que implementa una gran variedad de tareas de Procesamiento del Lenguaje Natural (PLN), un módulo software de recuperación de datos de redes sociales mediante crawlers y almacenamiento de resultados, y una aplicación web que presenta una interfaz de usuario para la visualización de la información de forma sugestiva e interactiva. De esta forma, la solución propuesta permite a los usuarios estar actualizados y tener un control de sus redes sociales, pudiendo estar al día de la información, tanto de sus publicaciones como de sus intereses, en una única interfaz sencilla e intuitiva.The developed system aims to integrate and monitor information in Spanish of a user's social networks (Facebook, Twitter and web news of interest) through a single web application. It is based on three main components: a module that implements a wide variety of Natural Language Processing tasks (NLP), an information retrieval module which capture social networks data by means of crawling and stores processing results, and an application web that presents a user interface through which visualizing the information obtained in a suggestive and interactive way. Therefore, the proposed solution allows users to be updated and control their social media networks, being to able to be up-to-date about the information of their publications and their interests, in a single, simple and intuitive graphical interface.Este trabajo ha sido patrocinado en parte por el Grupo de Big Data y Sistemas Cognitivos del Instituto Tecnológico de Aragón. La difusión de este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiada por el Programa Operativo FSE para Aragón (2014-2020)

LETTERS ON BIRCH BARK: HISTORY ANDCONSERVATION OF OBJECTS FROM THE MUSEUMOF REV. JÓZEF JARZĘBOWSKI IN LICHEŃ STARY

Artefacts made of and from untypical materialswith the use of sophisticated techniques preserved in museumsconstitute an exceptional challenge to museum curators. Suchis the case of two letters described in the paper, written onbirch bark by someone signed as the female: Janka and Jaśkadispatched to her mother from the Soviet Polovinka Gulag inthe Urals in 1946 and 1947. Currently, the artefacts are in thecollection of the Museum of Rev. Józef Jarzębowski in LicheńStary, while their history was explained only in the 2010s. In2022, the letters underwent museum conservation, whichallowed to find out what material they were written on andwhat technique was used for the execution, following whichthey were appropriately preserved so that they can last thelongest possible minimizing their deterioration

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). 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Electrochemical Characterization of Coinage Techniques the 17(th) Century: The maravedis Case

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Doménech Carbó, A.; Domenech Carbo, MT.; Álvarez-Romero, C.; Montoya, N.; Pasies-Oviedo, T.; Buendía Ortuño, MDM. (2017). Electrochemical Characterization of Coinage Techniques the 17(th) Century: The maravedis Case. Electroanalysis. 29(9):2008-2018. doi:10.1002/elan.201700326, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201700326. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."[EN] The voltammetry of immobilized particles (VIMP) methodology was applied to the discrimination of Spanish maravedis produced in 10 different mints between 1661 and 1664 using characteristic signatures for the reduction of cuprite and tenorite in the patina of the coins and catalytic effects on the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The variation of the apparent tenorite/cuprite ratio with depth was fitted to potential laws differing from one mint to another for A Coruna, Burgos, Cordoba, Cuenca, Granada, Madrid, Trujillo, Segovia, Sevilla and Valladolid coins. Electrochemical data permitted to detect the changes in the composition (with lowering of the silver content) and manufacturing technique (from hammer to mill) occurring in this historical period.Financial support from the MICIN Projects CTQ2014-53736-C3-1-P and CTQ2014-53736-C3-2-P, which are also supported with ERDF funds, is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks to the Museum of Prehistory of Valencia for facilitating the access to its collections.Domenech Carbo, A.; Domenech Carbo, MT.; Álvarez-Romero, C.; Montoya, N.; Pasies-Oviedo, T.; Buendía Ortuño, MDM. (2017). Electrochemical Characterization of Coinage Techniques the 17(th) Century: The maravedis Case. Electroanalysis. 29(9):2008-2018. https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201700326S2008201829