The research reported herein is directed toward the determination of the microstructure of silk fibers recovered from the shipwreck site of the S.S. Central America. The structural data obtained from examination of these silk materials using SEM, EDS, and DSC was compared to data obtained from the examination of historic silk fibers (ca. 1860–1880) not exposed to the deep-ocean and of modern silk fibers. Marine silks appear more degraded than historic and modern silk when viewed under the SEM and the fiber surfaces are partially obscured by inorganic deposits. The melting endotherm of marine, historic, and modern silk fibers are comparable to each other, but the glass transition observed in the modern silk is not apparent in the DSC trace of any of the marine silks.

A small stone statue of the Virgin Mary was recently found that is one of two free-standing Indo Christian sculptures known to be in the United States. The Indo-Christian style of art marks the transition from pre-Columbian art to Christian art and most examples of this style are found on buildings in Mexico. The statue, ”la Virgincita,” is patterned after an European engraving, however the decorative details in the stone carving are Aztecan. This paper is a description of the materials characterization of the statue and a study of its technical details using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electron microprobe analysis.

Electron Spin Resonance spectroscopy has been used to carry out a systematic investigation of the paramagnetic impurities present in antique and modern paper. Up to eleven different paramagnetic centres, which include different transition ions (Fe3+, Mn2+, Cu2+), organic free radicals, and paramagnetic point defects have been detected, in concentrations ranging from few ppm to several hundreds. Experiments performed on new and deteriorated samples strongly indicate that some of these impurities participate directly or are produced during the aging and degradation processes. They can be used as quality indicators or probes for quantitative monitoring of the degradation of paper.

Determining the composition and microdeposition of minerals, and their relation with the skin, are basic in order to understand the mechanisms, dynamics and environmental conditions that take place in the burial context. The present research has been developed with the objective of obtaining information that will contribute to increasing our knowledge of the modification processes in the preserved skin, verified inside an archaeological context.

Conservation of archaeological monuments and artifacts is in need of precise and efficient techniques for materials condition evaluation in order to ensure accurate diagnosis followed by effective curative intervention. Machine Vision, already extensively used in the manufacturing industry, is introduced as a preservation technology to fulfill that need. Material degradation manifests itself as localized variations in the optical response (e.g., color & intensity) from the affected surface. Once captured through an appropriate recording device, the image of the surface is documented, enhanced, analyzed and displayed by use of Digital Image Processing (DIP) techniques. The resulting map of materials condition for the surface is demonstrably comprehensive, quantitative & accurate, and the process is fast and economical. Field work was done at the site of Mayan ruins in Tulum, Mexico, on the shore of the Caribbean sea. This paper focuses on a piece of structural rock having a large number of surface pores as the primary form of degradation. Employing DIP procedures, the material condition of the surface is quantitatively represented and characterized in terms of size as well as spatial distribution of the damage features. On a theoretical note, it is postulated that the sand from the beach, airborne by the sea breeze, had been the principal erosion agent. And a phenomenological model of the weathering mechanism has been developed centering on the fluid mechanical concept of terminal velocity. Close agreement between the field work data and the theoretical construct demonstrates the additional merit of the adapted technology as enabling a verifiable, and hence more meaningful, diagnosis of the weathering mechanism.

The chemical composition (body and glaze) of over thirty Yaozhou porcelain fragments are determined by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. Statistical analysis of these results combined with data already published indicate that the full evolution process of Yaozhou porcelain can be divided into four stages. Each stage exhibits a characteristic composition determined by the raw materials and batch composition used to produce the porcelain bodies and glazes. Almost all of Yaozhou celadon and white ware glazes belong predominantly to the CaO-type glaze (or lime glaze), but the glazes of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1280) and later periods have higher K2O content and less CaO than the earlier periods.

Lead slags and lead pieces, chronologically related to the Punic and Roman periods (IV BC - II AC), have been found at Bocche di Sciria, in the basin of the Montevecchio mine (south-western Sardinia, Italy). Furthermore, along the coast of this area over than 20 Punic and Roman shipwrecks with charges of lead ingots have been found. These materials indicate intense pyrometallurgical activities and the presence of metal production centres very close to the metal ore deposits. The microchemical studies of the slags have shown that they can be associated to a smelting process for lead and silver production. Furthermore, lead isotope analysis has been carried out for lead ores from Montevecchio and for the lead slags, litharge, lead pieces found there. The results for lead ores are in good agreement with literature and the scatter of data for slags, litharge and lead pieces suggest to rule out a lead isotope fractionation in ancient lead and silver production.

A large group of the so called “free galloping horse” bronze Punic coins, that is the most common series largely diffused in the Mediterranean basin, has been found during the archaeological excavation at Tharros (western Sardinia, Italy). Forty-seven coins have been studied in order to determine the chemical composition and the microchemical structure of the copper alloys used by Punies for the coinage of this series and to gain further information about the metal ores used to produce the metals. The results have shown that copper, tin, iron, silver, antimony, lead, zinc and arsenic vary significantly thus indicating different trends in the alloys production. The content of the major and minor elements has also indicated that Punic metallurgists controlled only the content of some elements to within quite narrow limits and when deliberate adding was used just to increase the metal to fill the mould, as might sometimes be the case with the addition of lead instead of the more expensive tin.