Electrochemical age determination of archaeological bronzes (CHRONOCU)
Authors/Creators
-
1.
Universität Innsbruck
-
2.
Universität Hamburg
- 3. Universitat Politècnica de València
- 4. Universitat de València
Description
Data in repository
- Overview table (CHRONOCU_OBJECTS_final; .csv & .xlsx) containing object ID, location (museum and inv.no.), archaeological and analytical information of every object analysed within the project; For the object-ID – relevant for finding the corresponding analytical sheets (PDF) and the .txt files for each voltagram in the analytical sheet – please look at the first column of the table.
- Analytical sheets (.pdf & .doc) of every single object (file name: project internal object-ID), comprising voltammetry graphs, basic archaeological and analytical information;
- Text files of all the voltagrams recorded of every object studied (file name: project internal object-ID).
- Voltagrams and sample information of the newly produced corrosion samples can be found in the folders “specimens”.
The files are saved in sub-folders referring to the region/geographical location of the museums where the relevant objects are kept.
Abstract (English)
Archaeological bronzes are still dated exclusively typologically and relatively by their find context. Lead isotope analysis (210Pb) on bronzes can provide moreover information on whether the object was made with metal that is less than 150 years old; however, this is not relevant for archaeological bronze objects deriving from a secure find context. First results from electrochemical examinations indicate that bronzes can also be relatively dated on the basis of selected corrosion products. The analysis is considered non-destructive, as only a few mg of corrosion are dabbed from the surface of the bronze. Using voltammetry of immobilised particles (VIMP), the ratio of the copper oxides cuprite and tenorite is measured, which provides information about the age of the object, respectively the time of its deposition in the ground. Analyses were carried out in cooperation with the University of Valencia with leading scientists in the research field of electrochemical dating. Besides the electrochemical analyses, also the influence of various factors such as chemical composition and microstructure on the measurements was evaluated. In total, over 300 bronzes from the Copper Age to the Middle Ages (ca. 2800 B.C. to 1000 A.D.) were analysed. In addition, chemical and spectroscopic analyses of the samples provide a detailed characterisation of the individual corrosion products. The project bridges the gap between natural science and humanities by providing analytical data for the age of archaeological bronzes through analysis of the objects themselves rather than their find contexts – this means it can be applied also to objects with unknown find context. It is the aim of ChronoCu to establish voltammetry as a standardized methodology to determine the age of archaeological bronzes and provide calibration data for future studies.
Other (English)
- Mödlinger M., Asmus B., Ghiara G. The “Schwarze Mander” of the court church in Innsbruck, Austria: manufacture and production of monumental brass statues in the Renaissance. International Journal of Metalcasting 2024. doi: 10.1007/s40962-024-01299-4
- Doménech-Carbó A., Mödlinger M., M., Osete Cortina L., Doménech-Carbó M.T. (2024). Mott-Schottky analysis of archaeological copper-based objects, ChemElectroChem, celc.202300639. doi: 10.1002/celc.202300639
- Doménech-Carbó A., Mödlinger M., M., Osete Cortina L., Doménech-Carbó M.T. (2023). Electrochemical approximation to Bronze Age chronology via multiple scan voltammetry, ChemElectroChem, celc.202300405. doi: 10.1002/celc.202300405
- Doménech-Carbó, A., Mödlinger, M., Ghiara, G. Determining of the composition of the metallic core of historical objects from portable XRF spectrometry data, Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 220, 2024: 107030. doi: 10.1016/j.sab.2024.107030
Other (English)
- Project title: Electrochemical Age Determination of archaeological bronzes (ChronoCu)
- Head of project: Mag. Dr. Marianne Mödlinger PhD
- Institution: University of Innsbruck
- Research program: FWF-Stand Alone project
- Grant-DOI: 10.55776/P34960G
- Funding: EUR 218.785
- Duration: 01.01.2023-30.06.2025
- Website: www.fwf.ac.at/en/research-radar/10.55776/P34960
Files
2023_Domenech-Carbo et al, ChemElectroChem.pdf
Files
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