Bronze analysis

Craddock, in a comprehensive paper on medieval and west African bronze analysis, has clearly pointed out the inherent dangers of interpretation of analytical data for copper or copper-based alloys in terms of provenience. Provenancing metal from its composition has always proved immensely difficult even for the ancient Near East and Europe where one can normally assume that the metal has been mined, smelted, fabricated, used and discarded within the same society. In the case of West Africa where the bulk of the metal came from a wide variety of undifferentiated sources which were far distant and technically superior, the task of interpreting the metal analyses becomes all the more fraught with difficulty. In copper provenancing studies generally three assumptions have to be made ... 

EXTENDING SURFACE ANALYSIS OF NEW MOSFETS BASED ON NANO AND MKM SCALED CDW PHOSPHATE AND OXIDE BRONZES... 

ELECTRON PROBE MICRO ANALYSIS OF THE METALLIC WARE OF THE BRONZE AGE... 

The press had been designed with a capacity to deliver 280 kN press force and to work at a production rate of 40 lids per minute. Calculations to determine the distribution of forming loads required indicated that the press capacity was adequate to form the family of steel lids to be produced on the machine. One of the major areas of interest in the design was the con-rod and pin (see Figure 4.66). The first option considered was based on a previous design where the con-rod was manufactured from cast iron with phosphor bronze bearings at the big and small ends. However, weaknesses in this approach necessitated the consideration of other options. The case study presents the analysis of the pin and con-rod using simple probabilistic techniques in an attempt to provide in-service reliable press operation. The way a weak link was introduced to ensure ease of maintenance and repair in the event... 

Shortland, A. (2006). Application of lead isotope analysis to a wide range of late bronze age Egyptian materials, Archaeometry 48, 657-669. 

A second application of DI-MS was in the analysis of archaeological adhesive of a blackish amorphous residue present on the chape of a bronze sword, discovered in a tomb from the Iron Age (ca. 800 700 BC) at the archaeological site of Argancy (Moselle, France). In the mass spectrum (Figure 3.13) the ion fragment at mlz 189, which is characteristic of triterpenoid compounds, is evident and represents the base peak. 

The appearance of the first appendices of chemical analysis and references to them in the text of a major excavation report represents the earliest significant collaboration between archaeologists and chemists. Examples include the analysis of four Assyrian bronzes and a sample of glass in Austen Henry... 

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. 

Rohl, B. and Needham, S. (1998). The Circulation of Metal in the British Bronze Age The Application of Lead Isotope Analysis. Occasional Paper 102, British Museum, London. 

Evans, J.A., Chenery, C.A. and Fitzpatrick, A.P. (2006). Bronze Age childhood migration of individuals near Stonhenge, revealed by strontium and oxygen isotope tooth enamel analysis. Archaeometry 48 309-321. 

Brown, M. A. and Blin-Stoyle, A. E. (1959). Spectrographic analysis of British Middle and Late Bronze Age finds (including reprint of A sample analysis of British Middle and Late Bronze Age material, using optical spectrometry , from Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.) Supplement to Archaeometry 2. 

Segal, I., Kloner, A., and Brenner, I. B. (1994). Multielement analysis of archaeological bronze objects using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry -aspects of sample preparation and spectral-line selection. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 9 737-744. 

An example of the application of Tafel analysis is provided by samples taken for a bronze montefortino helmet from the Gabriel river valley (Kelin and Ikalesken period) in the Valencian region of Requena, dated back to the Second Iron Age (see Fig. 3.13). Upon attachment to paraffin-impregnated graphite electrodes immersed in 0.50 M phosphate buffer, voltammetric signals such as depicted in Fig. 3.14 were found [183]. 

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