Pigment characterisation in Australian rock art: a review of modern instrumental methods of analysis

Stuart, Barbara H.; Thomas, Paul

doi:10.1186/s40494-017-0123-8

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Dutrisac et al [77] claims that jarosite group minerals were being exploited at Rio Tinto in Spain from 1200 BCE. Jarosite yellow ochres have been identified on painted objects from the 9 ka site of Takarkori, Libya by di Lernia et al [82] and jarosite has also been detected in Australian Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley region [83,84].…”

Section: Wads: Manganese Ochresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mineral Pigments in Archaeology: Their Analysis and the Range of Available Materials

Siddall

2018

Minerals

135

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Naturally occurring minerals or their synthetic analogues have been important as pigments used in artistic and cosmetic contexts in global antiquity. The analysis and identification of mineral pigments, though routine to the petrologist or mineralogist, also requires specialist knowledge of the archaeological contexts and available technologies and trade. This paper attempts to present an analytical approach to the study of mineral pigments in archaeology and also introduces the range of mineral pigments encountered in works of art and painted objects on archaeological sites and in museums. It attempts to cover the range of mineral and synthetic inorganic pigments used in global cultures from to the early Medieval period.

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Section: Wads: Manganese Ochresmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mineral Pigments in Archaeology: Their Analysis and the Range of Available Materials

Siddall

2018

Minerals

135

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“…Haematite has been identified with micro-Raman in various rock art pigments (Bonneau et al 2017;Gomes et al 2013;Prinsloo et al 2013;Stuart and Thomas 2017;Ospitali et al 2006), and on human skeletal remains (Edwards et al 2001), but this is the first time micro-Raman has been used to identify and confirm that haematite was used to create artefacts in the Mesolithic of Britain. Elemental microanalysis of objects by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy conducted within the chamber of scanning electron microscopes (SEM-EDS, also known as SEM-EDX and SEM-EDAX) has been used previously to identify haematite on Mesolithic artefacts (Cristiani et al 2009;Cristiani et al 2014).…”

Section: Micro-raman and The Study Of Ochrementioning

confidence: 99%

The application of micro-Raman for the analysis of ochre artefacts from Mesolithic palaeo-lake Flixton

Needham

Croft

Kröger

et al. 2018

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Article:Croft, Shannon, Kröger, Roland orcid.org/0000-0002-5070-0297, Robson, Harry K. orcid.org/0000-0002-4850-692X et al. (5 more authors) (2018) The application of micro-Raman for the analysis of ochre artefacts from Mesolithic palaeo-lake Flixton. Highlights• Two possible ochreous objects are investigated with reflected visible light microscopy and Raman microspectroscopy. • Objects identified unambiguously as containing mineral haematite.• Objects identified as anthropogenic artefacts.• Results attest to powder production and use of red ochre in Mesolithic Britain. AbstractOchre is an important mineral pigment used by prehistoric hunter-gatherers across the globe, and its use in the Mesolithic is no exception. Using optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy with micrometre spatial resolution (micro-Raman), we present evidence that confirms unambiguously the use of ochre by hunter-gatherers at Mesolithic sites surrounding Palaeo-Lake Flixton, Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire, UK. Our results suggest that people collected ochre and processed it in different ways, likely for diverse purposes. The quality and specificity of chemical characterisation possible with micro-Raman facilitates new avenues for further research on ochreous materials in Britain, including provenancing through chemical ÔfingerprintingÕ.

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“…Among these methods, the most frequently applied analytical techniques are proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and proton-induced γ-ray emission (PIGE). Many researchers apply them to detect historic building samples as the first step, which provide the chemical composition of various materials such as pigments [288][289][290], glasses [291,292], mortars [293,294], etc. Because Fig.…”

Section: Ion Beam Analysis Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent progress in instrumental techniques for architectural heritage materials

et al. 2019

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Both conservation and intervention methods must be compatible with each other and appropriate for the original building materials. Therefore, the characterization of historic building materials is indispensable for investigating chemical composition, micro-structure and morphological features to study the current condition, environmental influence and change mechanism due to natural aging or man-made decay processes. Given the great variety of chemicals which can be analyzed, complex problems related to architectural heritage materials are investigated via optimized methodologies. Among the existing techniques, optical microscopy (OM) is an inexpensive and dominating tool to obtain preliminary information on complex samples. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can provide real three-dimensional topographies showing sample surface properties. Electron microscopes combined with energy dispersion X-ray analysis (EM-EDX) are the instruments specifically developed to acquire images of target materials at high magnification. Infrared and Raman spectroscopies are frequently used to characterize inorganic and organic compounds. Thermal analysis can rapidly and accurately measure changes in crystalline structure, dehydration and decomposition. X-ray based technologies have a wide range of applications as follows. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is one of the most frequently used techniques for elemental analysis. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a fast and inexpensive technique for the characterization of man-made and natural materials. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is applied to quantify the valence and electronic levels of specific elements. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a powerful technique for detecting the electronic structure of matter. UV-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy is also of great importance in architectural heritage, which can reveal different physicochemical mechanisms causing color. Laserinduced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) can effectively eliminate the pollution on the surface and detect the internal elements of the target material. Ion beam analysis can quantify trace elements with high sensitivity. Mass-based techniques are mainly applied to identify unknown organic substances at the molecular level. This review describes some classical applications of individual techniques and provides scientific support for scientists and engineers to make decisions in the context of architectural heritage.

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Pigment characterisation in Australian rock art: a review of modern instrumental methods of analysis

Cited by 24 publications

References 24 publications

Mineral Pigments in Archaeology: Their Analysis and the Range of Available Materials

Mineral Pigments in Archaeology: Their Analysis and the Range of Available Materials

The application of micro-Raman for the analysis of ochre artefacts from Mesolithic palaeo-lake Flixton

Recent progress in instrumental techniques for architectural heritage materials

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