316 research outputs found
Preliminary results on time-resolved ion beam induced luminescence applied to the provenance study of lapis lazuli
Protocol for lapis lazuli provenance determination: evidence for an Afghan origin of the stones used for ancient carved artefacts kept at the Egyptian Museum of Florence (Italy)
Despite that the Badakhshan Province (Afghanistan) remains the most plausible hypothesis for the lapis lazuli used in antiquity, alternatives proposed in literature are worth to study to confirm or disprove their historical reliability. In this work, a protocol for determining the provenance of lapis lazuli rocks used for carved artefacts is described. Markers for the univocal attribution of the raw material to a source were identified analysing 45 rocks of known provenance (among which 15 georeferenced) from 4 quarry districts. To the best of our knowledge, this reference database is the widest in provenance studies on lapis lazuli. All the markers are recognisable by means of Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques, in particular micro-proton-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) and micro-ionoluminescence (IL). These techniques are non-invasive and applicable in air, allowing to analyse artworks and rocks of practically any shape and dimension without sample preparation. The protocol was applied to determine the provenance of raw material used for carved lapis lazuli artefacts kept at the Egyptian Museum of Florence, the second most important Egyptian museum in Italy, second only to the museum of Turin. The collection in Florence has a great historical value and includes several lapis lazuli pendants, scarabs, small statuettes and amulets ascribable mainly to the first millennium BC. Following the protocol, 11 of these artefacts were analysed by means of IBA techniques. Results ascribe the raw material to the Afghan quarry district
Basic Research and Clinical Application of Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Macro X-ray fluorescence analysis of XVI-XVII century Italian paintings and preliminary test for developing a combined fluorescence apparatus with digital radiography
Potentialities of X-ray fluorescence analysis in numismatics: the case study of pre-Roman coins from Cisalpine Gaul
Provenance of Lapis Lazuli Rocks Processed at the Bronze Age Archaeological Site of Shahr-i Sokhta: First Results from Ion Beam Analysis
SEM-EDX and SEM-CL to Characterize Lapis Lazuli from Different Provenances
Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011
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