Artefacts archaeological

If thick samples are placed in the specimen chamber for analysis, the particles are slowed down and eventually stopped in the sample, so the calculation of the X-ray yield and their absorption is more complicated. Some objects may be too large to be placed in the specimen chamber, in which case the external beam technique is employed. The particle beam passes through a window at the end of the beam-line into the air where an object of any size (e.g. an archaeological artefact) may be analyzed. 

Figure 5.9. Examination of segregation bands of arsenic in copper in archaeological artefacts...

For the analysis of large objects which cannot be placed within the irradiation chamber it is possible take the particle beam into the ambient air through a thin window at the end of the beam line. In this way any type of object can be analysed -for example paintings and archaeological artefacts. 

Ingo, G. M., E. Angelini, G. Bultrini, T. de Caro, L. Pandolfi, and A. Mezzi (2002), Contribution of surface analytical techniques for the microchemical study of archaeological artefacts, Surf. Interface Anal. 34(1), 328-336. 

Murray-Wallace, C. V. (1993), A review of the application of the amino acid racemi-sation reaction to archaeological dating, The Artefact 16, 19-26. 

Danzer K, Florian K, Singer R, Maurer, F, Abo-Bakr El Nady M, Zimmer K (1987) Investigation of the origin of archaeological glass artefacts by means of pattern recognition. Anal Chim Acta 201 289... 

J. Connan, A. Nissenbaum, Conifer tar on the keel and hull planking of the Ma agan Mikhael ship (Israel, 5th century BC) identification and comparison with natural products and artefacts employed in boat construction, Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, 709 719 (2003). 

In the present chapter, we first provide some general information concerning the chemistry of waxes and lipids currently encountered in various items from our cultural heritage and we detail the main protocols based on direct mass spectrometry that have been developed so far. We then discuss the mass spectra obtained by EI-MS on a range of reference substances and materials sampled from museum and archaeological artefacts. We then focus on the recent possibilities supplied by electrospray ionisation for the elucidation of the structure of biomarkers of beeswax and animal fats. 

Figure 10.21 Total ion current chromatograms obtained after headspace SPME for (a) a pine pitch and (b) an archaeological pitch from Fayoum. Peak labels correspond to compound identification given in Table 10.1. Si, siloxanes (artefacts). Reproduced from S. Hamm, J. Bleton, A. Tchapla, J. Sep. Sci., 27, 235 243 (2004). Copyright Wiley VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KgaA. Reproduced with permission...

ToF-SIMS is quite a new analytical tool for the study of organic materials from art and archaeological artefacts. Nevertheless, we will see that in the first published studies, its application can cover a great number of subjects and materials. 

Hughes, R.E. (1994). Intrasource chemical variability of artefact-quality obsidians from the Casa Diablo area, California. Journal of Archaeological Science 21 263-271. 

Edwards, R. (1998). The effects of changes in groundwater geochemistry on the survival of buried metal artefacts. In Preserving Archaeological Remains In-Situ, ed. Corfield, M., Hinton, P., Nixon, T., Pollard, A.M., Museum of London Archaeology Service, London, pp. 86-92. 

Hughes, M.J., Northover, J.P. and Staniaszek, B.E.P. (1982). Problems in the analysis of leaded bronze alloys in ancient artefacts. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 1 359-363. 

Sayre, E.V., Joel, E.C., Blackman, M.J., Yener, K.A. and Ozbal, H. (2001). Stable lead isotope studies of Black Sea Anatolian ore sources and related Bronze Age and Phrygian artefacts from nearby archaeological sites. Appendix new central Taurus ore data. Archaeometry 43 77-115. 

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