Forty one terracottas by Clodion, Marin and P. Michel, all french sculptors of the XVIIIth century, have been analyzed in the L.R.M.F.

Two different kinds of analysis have been performed.

The results obtained by thermoluminescence allowed to partition the works between one group contemporaneous with the Clodion period and the other one consisting of posterior works. Although the lowest limit in the use of thermoluminescence seems to be reached, the conclusions are, more often than not, in agreement with the hypotheses of the curator.

X-Ray diffractometry, microprobe analysis and ion-beam methods (PIXE) have led to distinguish between siliceous pastes corresponding to artifacts created in Paris and carbonated pastes gathering terracottas made during the italian stays of the artists.

Nineteen roman ceramic sherds found near Salobreña (Granada, Spain), in the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as different ceramic clays from the surroundingsare studied. Both clays and ceramic sherds are characterizad by X-ray diffraction and spectrometry, differential thermal analysis, and scanning electron and optical microscopies. A good number of the ceramic pieces, among which some “Terrae Sigillatae”, have a composition similar to that of the local clays and, thus, have been probably manufactured at Salobreña. Only a few of them have a foreign origin. For most of them, the firing temperature was about 800-850 °C, although some have been produced at 900-1000 °C, and some others at 1000-1100 °C. It is concluded that Salobreña appearsto have been an important settlement just in the third century of the Christian era.

In studying celadons culture of Korea scientifically 81 sherds from nine different kiln sites of different periods are analyzed for their macroscopic, compositional and microstructural characteristics. The raw materials used for modern reproduction are analyzed for their chemical and mineralogical composition and compared with those of traditional pieces.

Twelve samples of lime plaster were examined, including a white incrustation on vessels and religious tables and the contents of a large vessel filled with the white substance. These materials are from Tell Samovodene, Bulgaria which was inhabited during the Neolithic period between 5750 and 5400 B.C. Crystal-optical analysis, X-ray diffraction, emission spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used in the analysis. It was established that the white contents of the vessel consisted of slaked lime which had been carbonized in antiquity. The white incrustation was shown to be a lime plaster, composed of slaked lime and quartz. We are continuing investigation of the kiln, found on the periphery of the tell; preliminary data suggest the kiln was used for lime burning.

The excavation of the metalworking areas of the late Iron Age and early Roman port of Hengistbury Head in southern England revealed evidence of a wide range of processes. These involved gold, silver and copper alloys and their connections with the local Iron Age coinage as well as the casting of bronze artefacts and ironworking. Since publication, in 1987 re-analysis of some material coupled with an extensive analysis of the associated coinage has led to a re-interpretation of the material. This paper presents the new perspective on the site as a metallurgical centre that has emerged as a result of our analyses.

Until recently1 it was admitted that the pressure debitage technique had been invented at the end of the Upper Paleolithic, and its presence in different geographical zones was difficult to explain.

Now that we are able to recognize it thanks to advances in experimentation, its invention seems to have been made some 20,000 years ago in the vast area where the Mongoloid people, who were to occupy the Far East, the Beringian zone and America, first appeared.

We are going to describe the methodological approach which allowed us to imply pressure debitage as a cultural marker in the history of prehistoric penetration into North America and to show the specificity of this technique in the Paleolithic of North Asia. Our proposal is a development of an unpublished paper presented at the Novosibirsk Symposium in 19902. The opportunity we had then to examine lithic industries from Siberia convinced us of the early use of the pressure technique.

Prior to their modern invention, the use of petroleum products (bitumen, asphalt, etc.) was common in the prehistory of the Near East. In Mesopotamia where they are plentiful, often occurring at the surface of the ground, these products have been utilized in diverse ways: for construction and caulking of buildings, as a waterproofing agent, and even as a medicine to remedy coughing. Archaeologists have questioned the location of principal sites exploited in antiquity and the ways that these products have been used. As the result of a close collaboration between petroleum specialists and archaeologists, this article explains how geochemical analysis has enabled identification of the provenance of bitumen utilized at Babylon in Iraq, how the inhabitants of Susa in Iran used bitumen, its preparation and also its fabrication as an artificial material which has proven to be as durable as stone.

Specimens of brick and mortar taken from the Hagia Sophia Basilica in Istanbul, Turkey, are being analyzed as part of an investigation of the construction history and present state of structural stability of the building. The analysis, covering both chemical composition and physical properties, involves a suite of instrumental methods including quantitative X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and automated image analysis of polished sections under SEM. These conventional methods are being supplemented by neutron diffraction and neutron and Xray small angle scattering. Preliminary results suggest the presence of cementitious materials including plombierite and tetracalcium aluminum carbonate in the mortar as well as calcium carbonate. The mortar contains significant amount of brick dust and also large chunks of brick as coarse aggregate. Given the pozzolanic nature of brick dust, it is possible that the mortar is actually not a conventional carbonated lime material, but rather a proto-concrete. The type of masonry construction involving very wide mortar joints, comparable to the width of the bricks, suggests that the Byzantine architects took advantage of this property of the mortar. This sophisticated materials technology may help to explain how the Basilica was constructed in such a short time period, and also to allow us to understand and model subsequent structural problems, including major deformations of the main piers. Also, the feasibility of dating by radiocarbon and thermoluminescence methods is being investigated to determine which parts of the elaborate buttress system are the original Byzantine structure as opposed to later Ottoman additions.

Current understanding of medieval glass composition is compared with the instructions for the preparation and use of glass outlined by Theophilus in the early twelfth century. The points are illustrated by analyses of glasses from a range of objects and locations. They include the Westminster Retable, the pavement at Cluny Cathedral, Romanesque Mosan enamels on copper, Abbey windows from San Vincenzo in Italy and early enamelled glass vessels which are likely to have been made in Venice.

The arsenical copper smelting technology reconstructed from the archaeological record at the late prehistoric industrial site of Cerro Huaringa, Peru, remained unchanged for the six centuries preceding the Spanish Conquest. This lack of technological innovation is argued to be a result of the physical constraints imposed by a cultural commitment to human breath as the source of draft.

The recent discovery and excavation of the remains of a well preserved mold for bell-casting below the floor of the medieval church of the SS. Trinita′ of Venosa (southern Italy) provides a singular opportunity to reconstruct aspects of ancient bell-making technology and to compare the new archaeological data with the textual evidence on the same subject written by the famous monk Theophilus in the XIth chapter of his treatise “De Diversis Artibus”. Stratigraphical excavation and video-endoscopic inspection of the mold's interior allowed a preliminary reconstruction of the structure and use of this unique craft installation.

A 17th century bell, from Santuario-Mapethe (Mexico) was restored by using welding techniques. The work included the acoustical characterization of the bell before and after the actual welding as well as the analysis of the composition of the alloy originally employed, so a material as similar as possible to the original would be employed for the restoration. The advantages and disadvantages of the methods are discussed.

Chinese porcelain began to reach Europe in quantity in the late fifteenth century, Japanese in the mid seventeenth. Apart from a brief interlude in the mid seventeenth century, Chinese porcelain was imported until well into the nineteenth century, Japanese only until the 1740s. This porcelain was at first a rarity, to be mounted in precious-metal mounts or kept in the Cabinet of Curiosities. Soon it was to be displayed as part of the decorative effect in a room, while in some cases it became the decorative effect; the porcelain room. Porcelain was imitated in Europe and not much used until it was cheap enough. As the “China-mania” died, porcelain was kept as part of room decoration, often in the new china cupboards.

The analysis of use-wear “polish” variation and differences according to rock types contributes to the study of the “polish” formation process. The examination of the polished surface on andesite, rhyolite and a hard variety of slate with the SEM and optical light microscope thows that the polished surfaces are produced by mild wear. This provides a basis for use-wear analysis of stone farming tools made of these rocks, which come from early Japanese rice paddy cultivation contexts.

Enamels from Northern Spain, Central France, and Limoges, dating from the 10th century to the mid 13th century, were analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry and x-ray diffractometry to determine their overall compositions, and the opacifiers and colorants used. The compositions suggest the re-use of Roman tesserae. Calcium and lead antimonates were found as the predominant opacifiers; however, tin oxide and lead-tin yellow were also found in some of the enamels, either singly or in combination with the antimonates. One of the enamels from Limoges varied from the others in that the enamels had overall compositions similar to Islamic or Venetian glasses, and contained only tin oxide as an opacifier.

Polished cross sections through more than 1000 pigment samples from ancient Egyptian monuments (5th Dynasty to Roman Times) were investigated in reflected light, with SEM, and with electron microprobe techniques (EMPA). These combined analytical techniques allow many insights into the painting layers and down to the substrate. Textural relations of both the primary paintings and of the deterioration products can then be delineated. They also discern the stages of the various deterioration processes and the degree of damage of the painting layers.

The textural patterns of six deterioration processes not known before are discussed in detail and are documented in BSE-micrographs. Five of these processes commence in synthetic Cu-pigments (Egyptian Blue, glass pigment, and Green Frit) and Fe-bearing glass pigments. The 6th process leads to the formation of complex phosphates and is mainly exogenous. It causes severe damage to natural and synthetic pigment layers. These processes result in destruction of the primary pigments and coloured decorations.

Consequences as to the colour symbolism and future treatment of befallen paintings are discussed.

Polarized radiation is used in a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopic technique to detect molecular conformational change in collagen fibers resulting from deterioration. Absorbance spectra of single fibers are produced with polarization oriented first parallel (A‖) and then perpendicular (A⊥) to the fiber axis. The amide Ill band (1230- 1300 cm−1) shows strong positive dichroism, with up to six times greater absorbance occurring with parallel polarization. Losses of dichroism result from breakdown in the molecular structure of collagen. Integrations of the amide III bands are used in ratios, A‖/A⊥;, which provide a measure of the degree of molecular order. Ratios for degraded and undegraded material are compared to produce semi-quantitative information about deterioration.

Ion chromatography has been applied to the investigation of corrosion and efflorescence products on a range of museum artifacts whose deterioration is due to reaction with organic carbonyl pollutants in the storage environment. The potential of the technique and its optimisation for the determination of chloride, acetate, formate, nitrate and sulphate anions and associated cations are reported. Compounds containing acetates and/or formates from ceramic, geological, mollusca and metal collections have been investigated. The utility of ion chromatography for the examination of specimens which show no visible efflorescence, but from which significant acetate and formate levels can be quantified, is also demonstrated. The complementarity of ion chromatography and other techniques, in particular X-ray diffraction and infra red spectroscopy, for the investigation of efflorescence products is emphasised.

Archaic period bone in Southeast Missouri characteristically displays a patchy black and reddish brown staining not found on bone from other-aged sites in the area. The stained areas appear to be post-depositional additions to the bone matrix. Preliminary tests suggest that the stain is inorganic and is rich in Mn and Fe. Here, electron microbeam analysis is used in conjunction with SEM imaging to identify elements specifically linked to the staining. Comparisons are made between the elemental composition of bone and associated sediments from several different-aged occupations. Variability in postdepositional environment between occupations is documented and related to the presence of the staining.

The mineral composition of pigments from mural paintings of the 12th and 13th centuries in the grotto monasteries of Bertubani and Udabno (David-Caredga) were investigated. Apart from traditional pigments, many examples of brown-black plattnerite (PbO2) were found. They were generated by bacteriological oxidation of white lead. This oxidation process has caused great damage to the original painting color. It is necessary to investigate and to remember the potential influence of bacteria on painting pigments while conducting conservation and restoration as well as art historical analysis.