Organic Remains in Early Christian Egyptian Metal Vessels: Investigation with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Koupadi, Kyriaki; Boyatzis, Stamatis; Roumpou, Maria; Kalogeropoulos, Nick; Kotzamani, Despoina

doi:10.3390/heritage4040199

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Chemical bonds within the sediment samples were investigated with FTIR spectroscopy and the resulting spectra are presented in Figure 5 . The chemical bonds within mineral fractions are situated on lower wave numbers such as silicates and phyllosilicates [ 10 , 24 ]. Muscovite is the phyllosilicate found within amphora sediment samples.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Evidence of Sediments Recovered from Ancient Amphorae Found at the Potaissa Roman Fortress

et al. 2023

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Methods for material investigation are powerful tools that allow specialists to elucidate important aspects regarding ancient artifacts such as the Roman amphorae deposits discovered at Potaissa Fortress in Turda, Romania. Archeological debate states that the deposit contained olive oil and wine amphorae, but no material evidence has been presented until now. The current research is focused on the most representative large amphora fragments found in the Potaissa deposit, with a significant amount of sediment on their walls, to give archeologists the material proof to elucidate their debate. Sediment was collected from each fragment and subjected to complex analysis. XRD investigation combined with cross-polarized light microscopy demonstrated mineral particles such as quartz, clay (muscovite and traces of biotite), and calcite. Quartz and calcite particles have a rounded shape and diameters in a range of 20–200 µm, and clay particles have a lamellar shape and dimensions from 1 to 20 µm, a fact confirmed by SEM microscopy. Sample 2 presented a large amount of amorphous phase followed by Samples 1 and 3, with a low amount of organic phase. FTIR investigation confirms organic phase presence owing to strong absorption bands regarding C-H, C=O, and O-H chemical bonds related to aliphatic compounds in Sample 2, and to some decayed wine residue in Samples 1 and 3. EDS elemental analysis was used for organic particle identification in the amphora sediments and to obtain a correlation with their microstructure. GC–MS investigation showed volatile compounds related to wine residue for Samples 1 and 3 and decomposed fats for Sample 2. Tartaric and malic acid were identified by HPLC in Samples 1 and 3, which are wine biomarkers. The correlation of all experimental results concludes with no doubt that Amphora 2 contained olive oil and Amphorae 1 and 3 contained wine in ancient times.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Evidence of Sediments Recovered from Ancient Amphorae Found at the Potaissa Roman Fortress

et al. 2023

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“…Powdered samples were collected from the ceramic fragments and subdivided into three 100 mg aliquots for each sample. Each aliquot was treated with one solvent, namely acetone, methanol or dichloromethane, in order to exploit the different extraction capability of solvents with different polarity [4,[43][44]. Extraction was performed in a glass vial.…”

Section: Ft-ir Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Residues in transport vessels from the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea: A Further Element to Understand Past Commercial Relations

Zerai

Guerrini

Łucejko

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The archaeological site of Adulis lays on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea and during Late antiquity played a significant role in interregional commerce among the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean coasts. Contacts with the Eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula and the Sasanian world have been attested from different classes of pottery that were brought to light from on-going excavations at the site. Transport vessels have attracted particular attention as they testify the extent of trades and exchange networks. Transport vessels were coated by organic materials to seal porosity and make them suitable to transport different liquids and/or food. The characterisation of coating materials helped shedding light on their function, and also support the attribution to different classes of transport vessels found in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea worlds. Here, the characterisation of the organic lining detected on a set of samples identified as Late Roman Amphora 1 is discussed. Results from the chemical analyses performed by FT-IR and GC-MS revealed that bitumen was used for lining the jars, thus leading to set the classification of the amphorae within the wide class of the so- called Torpedo jars. By overcoming the question of typological complexity posed from macroscopic examination of the sherds, the chemical investigation contributed here crucial information for the interpretation of past trading in the Indian Ocean. The research gave clues to broaden the distribution of the Torpedo jars to Adulis, giving an unexpected insight into the trading routes of the past.

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“…Powdered samples were collected from the ceramic fragments and subdivided into three 100 mg aliquots for each sample. Each aliquot was treated with one solvent, namely acetone, methanol or dichloromethane, in order to exploit the different extraction capability of solvents with different polarity [4,44,45]. Extraction was performed in a glass vial.…”

Section: Ft-ir Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The organic residues of lining in transport vessels from the Red Sea coast of Eritrea: a further element to understand past commercial relations

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The archaeological site of Adulis lays on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea and during Late antiquity played a significant role in interregional commerce among the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean coasts. Contacts with the Eastern Mediterranean, Arabian Peninsula and the Sasanian world have been attested from different classes of pottery that were brought to light from on-going excavations at the site. Transport vessels have attracted particular attention as they testify the extent of trades and exchange networks. Transport vessels were coated by organic materials to seal porosity and make them suitable to transport different liquids and/or food. The characterisation of coating materials helped shedding light on their function, and support the attribution to different classes of transport vessels found in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea worlds. Here, the characterisation of the organic lining detected on a set of samples identified as Late Roman Amphora 1 is discussed. Results from the chemical analyses, performed preliminarily by FT-IR and then by GC–MS, revealed that bitumen was used for lining the jars, thus leading to set the classification of the amphorae within the wide class of the so- called Torpedo jars. By overcoming the question of typological complexity posed from macroscopic examination of the sherds, the chemical investigation contributed here crucial information for the interpretation of past trading in the Indian Ocean. The research gave clues to broaden the distribution of the Torpedo jars to Adulis, giving an unexpected insight into the trading routes of the past.

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Organic Remains in Early Christian Egyptian Metal Vessels: Investigation with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Cited by 15 publications

References 85 publications

Material Evidence of Sediments Recovered from Ancient Amphorae Found at the Potaissa Roman Fortress

Material Evidence of Sediments Recovered from Ancient Amphorae Found at the Potaissa Roman Fortress

Organic Residues in transport vessels from the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea: A Further Element to Understand Past Commercial Relations

The organic residues of lining in transport vessels from the Red Sea coast of Eritrea: a further element to understand past commercial relations

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