Identification of soldering and welding processes in ancient gold jewelry by micro-XRF spectroscopy

In science applied to cultural heritage, the study of the manufacturing procedures of ancient metal artifacts is of particular relevance. In fact, metal manufacturing is correlated with the development of civilization. The aim of this work is to reconstruct, by means of experimental archeology, the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:X-ray spectrometry 2013-07, Vol.42 (4), p.251-255
Main Authors: Scrivano, S., Gómez-Tubío, B., Ortega-Feliu, I., Ager, F. J., Moreno-Suárez, A. I., Respaldiza, M. A., de la Bandera, M. L., Marmolejo, A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alloys
Copper
Gold
Jewelry
Silver
Soldering
Spectroscopy
Welding
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Summary:In science applied to cultural heritage, the study of the manufacturing procedures of ancient metal artifacts is of particular relevance. In fact, metal manufacturing is correlated with the development of civilization. The aim of this work is to reconstruct, by means of experimental archeology, the ancient soldering and welding processes, in order to identify them in archeological samples using a portable micro X‐ray fluorescence (micro‐XRF) system. This portable and nondestructive technique provides a useful method for characterizing the manufacturing of ancient gold jewelry. Various gold alloys were produced with different Ag and Cu content to simulate real cases. Besides, on the basis of archeometallurgy techniques, replicas of decorations were fabricated following the ancient recipes such as those described in Naturalis Historia and Leiden Papyrus X. The content of Au, Ag, and Cu within the soldering or welding areas was quantified with the micro‐XRF technique. The methodology described in this work was applied to the particular case of alloys with high gold concentrations, such as Tartessic jewelry (700–500 BC), to identify the different welding and soldering techniques. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0049-8246
1097-4539
DOI:10.1002/xrs.2482