Feasibility of different cleaning methods for silver-copper alloys by X-ray fluorescence: Application to ancient Greek silver coins

Moreno-Suárez, A.I.; Ager, F.J.; Rodríquez-Segovia, C.; Gómez-Morón, A.; Chaves, F.; Scrivano, S.; Gómez-Tubío, B.; Vázquez, Ruth Pliego; Respaldiza, M.Á.

doi:10.1016/j.sab.2015.11.007

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The analysis of the silver finds after the treatment shows that the silver sulphide was still present. However, this result, indicating partial remains of silver sulphide, was also found in a significant number of other silver cleaning treatments (Archi Olsoufieff et al 2004;Ioanid et al 2011;Marchand et al 2014;Moreno-Suárez et al 2016;Palomar et al 2016). One of the main reasons this sulphide is not completely removed is its inability to dissolve in the slightly acidic environment of the heated EDTA -Na 3 solution (Table 2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

The Efficiency of Chemical Cleaning of Different Metal Artefacts from Felix Romuliana and Gradina Archaeological Sites (Serbia)

Bogojević¹,

Šarić²,

Kostić³

et al. 2022

Arheologija i prirodne nauke

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The research considers the effects of chemical cleaning of metal archaeological artefacts, made of silver, copper, bronze, lead and iron, from the archaeological sites in modern Serbia of Felix Romuliana (Gamzigrad) in the vicinity of Zaječar and Gradina (Jelica) near Čačak. Due to various corrosive products, artefacts were treated with different chemical solutions: citric acid, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid sodium salts: EDTA-Na 2 and EDTA-Na 3 . Corrosion products and surfaces before chemical treatments as well as products on various metal artefacts after chemical treatments were observed by SEM-EDS microanalysis. As expected, the EDTA-Na 2 solution removed all lead corrosion products (carbonates) within a very short period of time, whereas citric acid was most efficient in removing copper corrosion products (malachite, cuprite). As for the EDTA-Na 3 solution, impurities and corrosion products of silver (oxides) and copper (malachite and cuprite) were gradually removed, whereas the solution was partially selective in the silver sample. In iron deposits, corrosion layers such as goethite and magnetite were unevenly removed using the EDTA-Na 2 solution and citric acid. This research provides insights into the efficiency and risk estimation of the chosen chemical treatments, including the transformation of corrosion products, formation of chemical residual substances and the physical effects of the treatments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

The Efficiency of Chemical Cleaning of Different Metal Artefacts from Felix Romuliana and Gradina Archaeological Sites (Serbia)

Bogojević¹,

Šarić²,

Kostić³

et al. 2022

Arheologija i prirodne nauke

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“…A decrease of Pb in the surface layer in these spots may be because of previous conservation treatment, as shown by Moreno‐Suárez et al . (2016).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro‐XRF analysis of silver decorations on Archaic helmets from Olympia

et al. 2020

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Quantitative micro‐X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses were performed on 19 silver decorations of six Archaic bronze helmets from the archaeological site of Olympia, Greece. The principal aim of the study was to investigate technological aspects of the smelting process that influence the composition of Ag, reveal possible elemental correlations and shed light on its source, assigning a likely provenance. The XRF results revealed that all decorations contain high amounts of Ag > 95%. The quantitative determination of several fingerprint minor elements, such as Au, Pb and Bi, provided interesting insights related to the efficiency of the cupellation process, the ore type used for the silver extraction and the geological origin of the ores.

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“…XRF is essentially a surface technique where only up to the first 100-200 µm are "seen", depending on the composition of the sample. Usually, on polished surfaces, this is not a limiting factor, but in the case of ancient metallic samples, the surface composition can be altered by corrosion phenomena as well as by restoration processes [9]. Corrosion plays an important role in the case of bronze alloys.…”

Section: X-ray Fluorescencementioning

confidence: 99%

The Strange Case of the Nuragic Offerers Bronze Statuettes: A Multi-Analytical Study

et al. 2022

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The Nuragic civilization (Sardinia, Italy, XVIII–VIII B.C) developed a flourishing bronze metallurgy with strong connections with other civilizations from the Mediterranean basin. Within the large bronze production, there are some peculiar representations of human figures, known in the archaeological environment of Sardinia as bronzetti, depicting warriors, priests, and offerers. In this paper, an interesting couple of Nuragic statuettes representing offerers, one from the Pigorini Museum in Rome and another from the Musei Reali in Turin, were analyzed. They have been investigated with X-ray fluorescence integrated with Monte Carlo simulations (XRF-MC). The combined methodology provides more accurate results, ranging from the structural characterization to the identification of the corrosion layers to the estimation of the composition of the alloy of the artifact. One of the most striking results regards the heads of the offerers: both heads are covered with a thick iron-based layer, even though the whole artifacts are made of a copper alloy. To understand the reason behind this peculiar corrosion patina, several hypotheses have been considered, including the possibility that these iron mineralizations are the consequence of an ancient superficial treatment, intending to confer a chromatic effect on the figurine’s head.

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Feasibility of different cleaning methods for silver-copper alloys by X-ray fluorescence: Application to ancient Greek silver coins

Cited by 8 publications

References 28 publications

The Efficiency of Chemical Cleaning of Different Metal Artefacts from Felix Romuliana and Gradina Archaeological Sites (Serbia)

The Efficiency of Chemical Cleaning of Different Metal Artefacts from Felix Romuliana and Gradina Archaeological Sites (Serbia)

Micro‐XRF analysis of silver decorations on Archaic helmets from Olympia

The Strange Case of the Nuragic Offerers Bronze Statuettes: A Multi-Analytical Study

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