Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-w79xw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-18T06:40:42.471Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Examination of Deterioration Products Found on Tin Ingots Excavated from the 14th Century B.C., Late Bronze Age Shipwreck, The Ulu Burun, Near Kas, Turkey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Laura Lipcsei ,
Alison Murray ,
Reginald Smith  and
Mahmut Savas
Laura Lipcsei
Affiliation:
Art Conservation Program, Department of Art, Queen's University, Kingston.
Alison Murray
Affiliation:
Art Conservation Program, Department of Art, Queen's University, Kingston.
Reginald Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston.
Mahmut Savas
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering Department, Bogazici University, Istanbul.
Get access

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the deterioration of tin ingots recovered from a late 14th century B.C. (Late Bronze Age) shipwreck off Ulu Burun (Kas) Turkey. As so little elemental tin has been excavated from underwater sites and preserved to date, the Ulu Burun ingots offer a unique opportunity to study the degradation products of ancient tin artifacts from a natural marine environment. The current investigation had three major objectives: to identify corrosion products; to confirm or refute the presence of ‘tin pest’, which has been asserted as one of the major reasons for the disintegration of the ingots and a topic of much controversy in the conservation and museum communities; and, finally, to contribute to the overall understanding of marine tin. The following instrumental techniques were used to analyze ingot samples: x-ray diffraction, atomic absorption, inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. The results of the analysis have identified corrosion products that are characteristic of the type of products anticipated on tin objects from a marine environment. The presence of the controversial tin pest disease was confirmed in two of the six samples tested. Sample preparation appears to be a potential factor in the determination of tin pest using XRD.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 712: Symposium II – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology VI , 2002 , II6.4
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. Bass, G.F. “A Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun (Kas): 1984 Campaign”, American Journal of Archaeology 90, 269–96 1986.Google Scholar
2. Pulak, C., “The Copper and Tin Ingots from the Late Bronze Age Shipwreck at Uluburun” in Anatolian Metal, edited by Yalsin, U. (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, 2000) p.137–157.; “The Ulu Burun Shipwreck” in Res Maritimae: Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, ASOR Archaeological Reports 4, edited by S. Swiny, R.L.Hohlfelder & H.W. Swiny. (Scholars Press, Atlanta, 1997) p. 233–262Google Scholar
3. Maddin, R., “The Copper and Tin Ingots from the Kas Shipwreck” in Archaometallurgie der Alten Welt: Beitrage zum Internationalen Symposium: ‘Old World Archaeometallurgy’, Heidelberg 1987, edited by Hauptmann, A, Pernicka, E. and Wager, G.A. (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, 1989) p. 770–774.Google Scholar
4. Stos-Gale, Z. A., Gale, N.H. Bass, G., Pulak, C., Galili, E., and Sharvit, J., “The Copper and Tin Ingots of the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean: New Scientific Evidence” in The Fourth International Conference on the Beginning of the Use of Metals and Alloys (BUMA-IV) May 25–27 1998, Kunibiki Messe, Matsue, Shimane (The Japan Metal Institute, Japan, 1998) p.115–126.Google Scholar
5. Payton, R., “The Conservation of Artefacts from One of the World's Oldest Shipwrecks, The Ulu Burun, Kas Shipwreck, Turkey” in Recent Advances in the Conservation and Analysis of Artifacts, edited by Black, J. (Summer Schools Press, London, 1987) p. 41–49.Google Scholar
6. North, N.A. , N.A. and MacLeod, I.D. “The Corrosion of Metals” in Conservation of Marine Archaeological Objects, edited by Pearson, C. (Butterworth & Co., London, 1987) p.68–98.Google Scholar
7. Turgoose, S., “The Corrosion of Lead and Tin: Before and After Excavation” in Lead and Tin Studies in Conservation and Technology. UKIC Occasional papers. Number 3, edited by Miles, G. G, and Pollard, S. (UKIC, London, 1985) p.15–26.Google Scholar
8. MacLeod, I.D. “Identification of Corrosion Products on Non-Ferrous Metal Artifacts Recovered From Shipwrecks” Studies in Conservation 36, 222–234 1991.Google Scholar
9. Cohen, E., Transactions of the Faraday Society VII, 126 1911.Google Scholar
10. Cohen, E. and Lieshout, W.A. Van, Proceedings. Academy of Sciences of Amsterdam 39, 1174 1937.Google Scholar
11. Cohen, E. and Eijk, C. Van, Physical Chemistry 30, 601 1899.Google Scholar
12. Tamman, G. and Dreyer, K.L. Zeitschrift fur anorganische und Allgemeine Chemie, Band 199, Heft IV.2, 97–108 1931.Google Scholar
13. Smith, R.W. “The Alpha (Semiconductor) – Beta (Metal) Transition in Tin”, Journal of the Less-Common Metals, 114, 69–80 1986.Google Scholar
14. Smith, R.W. Ph.D Thesis, Birmingham University, 1956.Google Scholar
15. Smith, R.W. The Semiconductor-Metal Transition in Tin (in press).Google Scholar
16. Stambolov, T., The Corrosion and Conservation of Metallic Antiquities and Works of Arts. (Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art and Science, Amsterdam, 1985) p.175–77.Google Scholar
17. Plenderleith, H.J. and Organ, R.M.. “The Decay and Conservation of Museum Objects of Tin”, Studies in Conservation 1.2, 63–72 1952.Google Scholar
18. Lihl, F., , F. “On the Cause of Tin Decay in the Sarcophagi of the ‘Kapuzinergruft’”, Studies in Conservation 7.3, 89–105 1962.Google Scholar
19. Christian, J.W., The Theory of Phase Transformations in Metals and Alloys (Pergamon Press, New York, 1965).Google Scholar
20. Smith, R.W. (private communication).Google Scholar
21. Venetsky, S., Tales about Metals, translated from Russian by Kittell, N.G. (Mir Publishers, Moscow; Imported Publications, Chicago, 1981). Numerous entries, anecdotes and inquiries have also been made on the Conservation On Line internet distribution list, e.g.12:35, 12:36, 12:37, 12:39, 12: 40.Google Scholar
22. Lipcsei, L., An Investigation into the Deterioration of Tin Ingots Excavated from the 14th Century B.C. Shipwreck the Ulu Burun, Master of Art Conservation Research Project Thesis, Queen's University, 2001 (unpublished).Google Scholar
23. McNamara, M.C. The Identification of Corrosion Products on Copper Alloy Artifacts Excavated from the Late Bronze Age Shipwreck at Ulu Burun (Kas), Turkey, Master of Art Conservation Research Project Thesis, Queen's University 1997 (unpublished).Google Scholar