Investigation of many aspects of ancient ceramic production technologies is feasible during an archaeological field season, and requires little equipment. Descriptive variables such as color, inclusions ( temper ), variable textures within the paste, surface finish, hardness, and decorative techniques and style provide technological as well as stylistic or typological data. Residual surface traces, the surfaces of breaks themselves, and their overall patterning relative to both the vessel shape and size provide forming and finishing data. Subsequent laboratory analysis of samples complements the field data.

Since the beginning of the 18th century A.D., an artificial iron oxide pigment (hematite, called “bengara” in Japanese) and having a beautiful yellowish red color, has been produced in Japan and applied to pottery, textiles and paintings. However, in 1965 the traditional “bengara” could not be produced anymore, mainly because of environmental pollution. The purpose of this study is to make clear the features of traditional “bengara” and to reproduce high quality “bengara” using modern high-purity reagents. Traditional “bengara” has been characterized as hematite containing a small amount of Al. The average size of the “bengara” particles is approximately 100 nm. The color becomes more yellowish-red with increasing Al content. A monophase of hematite prepared by heating a mixture FeSO4-7H2O and α-Al2O3 to about 680 °C included a small amount of Al substituted in a solid solution. The particle size greatly decreased as the heat treatment temperature was decreased: 100 nm at 770 °C but 50 nm at 650 °C. The color of the particles becomes more vivid as the temperature is decreased, but within bounds this color is independent of the amount of Al in solid solution.

Ancient Egyptian XVIII Dynasty core vessel manufacturing technology had many sequential steps to make a core vessel, but there were only three essential elements to the process. One, the base layer of glass was applied as a fritted powder; two, the objects were manufactured over a vertical heat source; and three, the vessels were made in very low temperatures (maximum of about 800°

In the examination of gilded bronze objects, the analysis of the thickness of the gilding layer, the condition of the substrate and the gilding method is often difficult to manage without taking samples. Yet, the resulting information is vital to research on ancient metalworking and can answer questions of authenticity. The use of nondestructive eddy current techniques can overcome these sampling limitations. Eddy current methods are typically used in the automotive, power and aerospace industries for flaw inspection and alloy selection. In this method, the interaction of an electromagnetic field induced by a coil probe with the metal surface shifts the probe impedance which is measured and correlated to properties of the metal. Results are presented which show that eddy current testing can be used to characterize a gilding layer on a bronze substrate by variations in thickness or composition.

The faience of the New Kingdom period is frequently decorated with an expanded palette of red, black, and yellow. This polychrome decoration was often accomplished by inlaying one color of paste into another. The aesthetic success of these inlay techniques reveals a fundamental understanding of the materials' characteristics before, during, and after firing, and knowledge of how to manipulate these characteristics. The goal of this research is to more fully understand ancient Egyptian faience inlay techniques by characterizing the properties of a set of standard reproductions. As the most aesthetically successful reproductions were obtained using pre-fired components, a series of experiments was performed to quantify changes in glaze color, glaze gloss, and depth of glaze penetration upon refiring. Data was gathered from replicated samples and cross-sections using SEM, UV-VIS spectrophotometry, colorimetry, and optical microscopy. Visual comparisons were made between cross-sections of replicated inlays and examples of broken ancient Egyptian faience inlays.

Trace element analysis was used to assess the provenance of manufacture of ceramic vessels recovered from six Early Late Prehistoric sites (A.D. 700-1300) in the Susquehanna Valley of New York and Pennsylvania. The compositional profiles of 93 sherds were recorded and compared with the profiles of known clays in the valley. The results of this project suggest that the vessels from these sites form five different clay groups with most vessels manufactured from local clays. Some non-locally manufactured pots were also identified and may represent interaction between neighboring groups.

The study described here is based on the proposition that all events in the life of a bronze artefact, from the moment it was cast to the time it became available for characterisation, have the potential to leave a trace that can be identified by one or more metallographic methods. The hoard presented here was found at Waterden, Norfolk, England by metal detecting and excavation after it was scattered by the plough. The find comprises 201 fragments from approximately 130 swords and spearheads. It is important for understanding the evolution of the Bronze Age sword in Britain, and also for understanding the destruction and deposition of weapons in weapon-only assemblages. Besides a consideration of the hoard from a typological perspective the project used five methods of examination: a) a surface study for manufacturing traces, combat damage, possible cremation, and damage in the ground or at recovery, b) radiography, c) compositional analysis by electron probe microanalysis, d) optical metallography, and e) microhardness testing. This is the first occasion in which these techniques have been combined in the investigation of a complete hoard. It has been possible to divide the results from each technique into simple categories so that clear correlations can be made, so it can be shown that sword blades had more elaborate finishing than others, that some workshops had better casting practice than others and that the great majority of swords had combat damage. The effects of destruction and fire are also discussed and a context for the deposition of the hoard reconstructed.

Our method of Quantum - Chemical Technology based on use of strongly non-equilibrium vibrationally highly excited, very active molecules of hydrogen, allows in conditions of low temperature and pressure to realize the direct restoration of the corroded archeological metal-containing objects, without change of their shape and sizes.

The Wheeling Suspension Bridge was constructed in 1849 over the Ohio River as a part of the National Road connecting the east coast with the interior of the United States. This was just before introduction of the Bessemer process opened the Age of Steel, so the wire for the suspension cables was manufactured from wrought iron by a local Wheeling firm. The Bridge is still standing and carries both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Samples of wire from the suspension cables were provided courtesy of Prof. Emory L. Kemp of West Virginia University, and were examined metallurgically by optical microscopy and with a scanning electron microscope for features such as inclusions, grain size, and morphology. Hardness was measured as a proxy for strength. The combined results are compared with earlier observations made of wire of finer gauge drawn for historical musical instruments.

In this work some luster decorated ancient ceramics have been analyzed in order to acquire knowledge about technological procedures in luster production during the Renaissance period in Italy. Luster is a thin decorative metallic film present on the surfaces of some previously glazed ancient majolicas. It was obtained by applying on the majolica surface a mixture containing silver and copper compounds. Subsequently the object was fired in a reducing atmosphere.

It was found that the luster color, red-like or gold-like, depends not only on the chemical composition, determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), but on the dimensions of silver and copper metallic nanoparticles forming the luster too. Nanocrystals' dimensions and structural characteristics were determined by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).

As obtaining a satisfactory luster depends on the composition of the underlying glaze too, the chemical composition of the glazes have been determined and the analytical data were submitted to statistical multivariate analysis.

The site of Hasanlu is located southwest of Lake Urmia (Lake Rezaiyeh) in the province of Western Azerbaijan, northwest Iran. Excavations carried out by Dr. R. H. Dyson, Jr. of the University of Pennsylvania from 1957 to 1977 of the Iron Age levels at Hasanlu yielded a large number of glass beads, as well as glass vessels, and glass furniture inlays or wall fittings. Sampling of many of these pieces was limited to weathered areas, requiring the use of a micro-analytical technique to characterize the glass. Electron microprobe and wavelength dispersive analysis were used to characterize the chemical compositions of the glasses of Hasanlu. The glasses are soda-lime-silica in composition, containing about 17-21 wt% soda and 2-8 wt% lime. of 51 glasses analyzed to date, 47 contain about 1-6 wt% of magnesia and 1-4 wt% potash, indicative of a plant ash source of alkali. Four glasses contain less than 1 wt% each of magnesia and potash, suggesting that these may have been made with a mineral alkali source like natron.

At least 35 glasses contain inclusions of partly reacted batch materials. In blue transparent to translucent, black translucent, and yellow opaque glasses, large, 0.2 mm diameter, droplets of alkali sulfates exhibit features that indicate they were an immiscible liquid coexisting with a surrounding silicate liquid. These sulfate droplets, which appear to be relatively common in the glasses found at Hasanlu, are probably the scum or “gall” that can form during melting of poorly prepared plant ash. Remnants of original raw colorants occur in a few glasses. Many of the black glasses contain polymetallic sulfides of different combinations of lead, copper, antimony, and iron. These inclusions and the glass chemistry are used to interpret the origin and processing of the batch materials, and the conditions under which the materials were melted.

Qero cups, made from wood, ceramics and precious metals, have been used for millennia in the Andean region for ritual consumption of maize beer. From the cusp of the Inka-Colonial period, painted decoration became more common on qero cups. Most of the painted decoration actually consists of thin layers of a pigmented rubbery material that was cut and inlaid into shallow carved cavities in the wood substrate. For this project, 312 paint samples from 53 qerocups in collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and American Museum of Natural History were analyzed. The study of paints is part of larger study of the technology of over 150 qero cups from these four collections. Samples from seven qeros in Peruvian collections have also been analyzed. Nearly two dozen pigments have been identified, including mineral, synthetic inorganic compounds, and natural dyestuffs. The binder consisted of an unusual natural resin (commonly called ‘mopa mopa’) usually mixed with a nondrying or semidrying oil. This resin, which was used at least locally during the pre-Inka period and continued to be used through the Colonial period and later, came from a tree that grows in the montana of southwest Colombia, a region that was part of the northernmost extension of the Inka empire.

A collection of 70 black ware shards excavated from 16 kiln sites in South Korea and dating from the 3rd-13th centuries were studied using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electron beam microprobe analysis to determine the range of technological variability in composition, microstructure and firing temperature. Materials analysis provided a means of deconstructing and reconstructing the development of (1) consistent high temperature firing, (2) unintentional ash glazing on black ware, (3) intentionally applied black glazes, (4) the relationship of grey and black glazes to green and white ones. This paper addresses issues of the influence of high-firing technology on glaze development and the development and continuity of the black glaze tradition. In addition, the black glazed Onggi ware of the late 19th century was compared to the earlier black-glaze tradition, once stabilized in composition in the Koryo dynasty, and results suggest a technological connection with the earlier tradition.

The variation with depth of the composition of corrosion layers on buried metal objects can provide the archaeologist with valuable information relating to the burial conditions of the object. In some cases these layers can be very thick and so, normally destructive methods such as sampling are used to characterise the metal and corrosion layers when possible. We have developed a system for the use of a microfocused high power pulsed Nd:YAG laser to ablate the corrosion layer in a series of controlled steps while monitoring the composition of the exposed surface using focused PIXE and RBS in the external beam facility of the Oxford Scanning Proton Microprobe. With proper manipulation of the data we are able to calculate the values for trace elements at various depths in the corrosion layer. It is hoped that this system will lead to a better understanding of corrosion properties.

Many studies have shown that craft involves know-how, practice and problem solving that represents activities that can be recovered by study of various artifact assemblages and contexts within archaeological sites. The types of conclusions differ with nature of the research question, sample size and its variability, methods of study and organization of collecting in the field, as well as the results of areal study: ethnographic information, resource survey and landscape reconstruction. Questions generated through analysis of materials, processes and properties often generate questions that can only be answered by replicative experiments of all aspects of a chaine operatoire, only part of it or only those critical aspects about which questions remain. The integration of the laboratory/workshop results with the archaeological evidence, both objects and context, can lead to a re-discovery of craft. The conjectured details of materials composition and structure, sequence of processing, properties, performance or use essentially reverse engineer the typical way that modern materials research is conducted. This paper aims at developing a widening dialogue about craft know-how among materials scientists working in museums and artist-craftsmen. To learn about our history and the human condition is not just to analyze and preserve the objects and artifacts, but also to investigate and understand the knowledge and skills used to produce and use them-- essentially this is the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and culture history.

Many issues in the examination, treatment, and authentication of works of art depend on the accurate characterization of thin layers, which may challenge the resolution and detection limits of instrumentation routinely used for analyses, particularly SEM-EDS and EPMA. Such thin layers are the focus of recent conservation analysis in preparation for a major retrospective of Thomas Eakins' works. Interpretation of Eakins' paintings has often been complicated by mechanical and chemical cleaning procedures performed after the artist's death in 1916.

Recent advances in Focused Ion Beam (FIB) technology provide means for preparing specimens of thin layers that can be analyzed directly by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) yielding resolution in the nanometer range or better. This paper describes initial work undertaken to elucidate the inorganic components in the uppermost paint layers from Eakins' The Crucifixion, completed in 1880. Using TEM, we have observed a 250-500 nm Pb-rich nanocrystalline region, a pigment free zone less than 2 μm thick, and a lead white paint layer. An analysis of samples from two paintings that were subjected to mild cleaning operations did not show comparable Pb-rich nanocrystals. These results suggest that The Crucifixion may have been subjected to a more aggressive cleaning treatment which caused the entrainment of the Pbrich material–not resolvable by traditional analytical techniques – at the painting's surface. The use of FIB/TEM has enabled clear identification of the thin paint surface layers and offers enormous promise for understanding the processing and alteration of artists' materials, including issues of authentication.

Potters at ancient Gordion (Turkey) produced a distinctive fine ware with a black glossy finish during at least the period 700-500 BC. Visual examination suggested a sintered slip finish. Study using SEM, EDS, INAA, x-ray diffraction, and refiring has confirmed this hypothesis. The technology was characterized by a relatively low firing temperature, large amounts of flux, a darkening wash added over the slip, and use of both calcareous and non-calcareous clays.

This research focuses on coal recovered from the debris field created when R.M.S. Titanic sank on 15 April 1912. The primary objectives are to evaluate the variety of different sources of coal represented in the Titanic sample, and to identify the specific location of these sources. The methods used to evaluate the research objectives include a variety of trace element, petrographic, and palynological analyses. The results of this study provide critical insight into the socioeconomic circumstances that contributed to the enormity of the disaster.

In order to clarify the structure underlying the appearance of several compounds in dolomitic mortars (specifically hydromagnesite, Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2.4H2O), as well as the suitability of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric and thermodifferential simultaneous analysis (TGA-DTA) in their determination, different patterns from phases that could be present in mortars of these characteristics have been prepared and studied by these techniques. The standards were prepared from: hydromagnesite (HY) with calcite in weight/weight proportions 1:1 to 1:5; HY with calcite and quartz in proportions 1:1:1 and 1:6:12; HY with quartz, 1:1 and 1:2; HY with portlandite (calcium hydroxide), 1:1 and 1:2; HY with portlandite and quartz, in 1:6:12, and HY with magnesium oxide in 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1.

The XRD results have shown that it is possible to detect HY and the other compounds (dolomite, calcite, magnesite, quartz, …), but when the HY is mixed, the intensity of its diffraction peaks is very weak, even not detectable in some cases. The poor crystallinity of the HY could be the reason of this drop in intensity. Therefore thermal studies were necessary to find HY phases in low weight percentages.

TGA-DTA led us to establish the experimental conditions most suitable for thermal studies. A high CO2 pressure around the sample was required for the occurrence of an exothermic peak at 500°C. This high pressure was guaranteed in the present work as follows: static air atmosphere, packed sample, high heating rate (20°C.min-1), and alumina crucibles with holed lids in order to establish a selfgenerated atmosphere. The thermal behavior of hydromagnesite phases has been clearly established in contradiction to some references of the literature; specifically, the exothermic peak at 500°C has been observed repeatedly. This result invalidates reports of the crystallization of magnesium carbonate from the amorphous phase.

Cleaning acrylic emulsion paintings is challenging because of the material properties of the paint films, including their solubility. The goal of this work was to learn more about the effect of aqueous treatments on acrylic paints. Paint manufacturers were asked for their recommendations for cleaning these paintings and conservators were asked to comment on the damage observed in them and on the treatments applied. Responses showed that aqueous cleaning treatments are used, despite the associated risks, and that more technical information is needed about the effects of cleaning. The experimental section of this paper evaluated the changes in physical and mechanical properties of aged cobalt blue paint as a result of exposure to aqueous cleaning solutions. The results indicated that short immersions in these solutions caused a drop in most mechanical properties, but longer immersions did not; the drop after the short immersions was mostly due to the great increase in dimensional thickness of the paint films. Longer conservation treatment times are not being advocated.