Abstract Session Viewer

TP06

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 001	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Raman microscopy of diverse samples of lapis lazuli at multiple excitation wavelengths
Richard R. Hark¹; Robin J.H. Clark²
¹Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA; ²University College London, London, United Kingdom

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Summary
Lapis lazuli is a blue semi-precious stone composed primarily of the minerals lazurite, calcite, pyrite plus small quantities of accessory minerals. Raman spectroscopy can be used to identify these materials and may thereby help determine the geographical origin of lapis lazuli. Raman spectra were obtained at five different wavelengths for over 30 samples of lapis lazuli rocks from Afghanistan, Chile, Russia and China, natural and synthetic ultramarine pigments, and a large variety of accessory minerals including haüyne, nosean, sodalite, and diopside. This large database now compiled allows for a comparative analysis and provides a useful reference for future provenance studies.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 003	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Heating Effect On Serpentine Jades
Tung-Ho Chen
Conservation Department, National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

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Summary
Serpentine jades could be subjected to color change due to secondary alterations or weathering. In this study, we mainly focus on the heating effect on serpentine, as some ancient serpentine jades may have been exposed to heat for some different reasons, such as carving, funeral ceremony or imitating. A series of non-heated and heat-treated raw serpentine jades are examined using Raman spectroscopy and other complementary methods. The subtle change of molecular structure and color of serpentine due to the heat treatment is reported in detail.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 004	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
In-situ damage assessment of collagen within ancient manuscripts written on parchment: a polarized Raman spectroscopy approach
Roman Schuetz^{1, 2}; Ira Rabin²; Oliver Hahn²; Peter Fratzl¹; Admir Masic¹
¹Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany; ²Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testi, Berlin, Germany

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Summary
The degradation of parchments is very complex and not well understood process. Parchment is a final product of processing of animal skin and consist mainly of type I collagen. In this work we studied the collagen degradation within parchments by applying polarized Raman spectroscopic technique. Beside spectral information related to chemical bonding, polarization anisotropy of collagen amide I band has been used to explore organization of collagen on higher levels (three-dimensional arrangement of the triple-helix molecules and their alignment within a fibril of collagen). Non-invasive and non-destructive micro-Raman approach results very suitable for in-situ examination of highly valuable historical documents.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 005	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Micro Raman Analysis of Megalithic Pottery Shreds Recently Excavated At Gachibowli Archaeological Site, Andhra Pradesh, India
Mohamed Musthafa A; G Velraj
Periyar University, Salem, India

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Summary
Archaeological science is an interdisciplinary study which connects archaeology with natural science. It deals about the life of ancient people and their material remains. In the present study, the archaeological pottery samples collected from Megalithic archaeological site named Gachibowli located in premises of University of Hyderabad, Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India. An attempt has been made to identify the presence of chemical composition in the archaeological pottery samples by Micro-Raman Spectroscopy. The experimental results obtained from the study gives broad information about the chemical phases and their tentative assignments.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 006	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Micro-Raman spectroscopic identification of pigments of 4th century Roman wall paintings
Odile Cristini²; Christophe Kinowski²; Typhaine Jarry¹; Sylvia Turrell¹; Sophie Groetembril³; Monique Tessariol³
¹LASIR, Villeneuve D'ascq, France; ²PhLAM, Université de Lille 1, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France; ³Pro Pictura Antiqua Ass. Abbaye St Jean des Vignes, Soissons, France

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Summary
Excavations performed in Poitiers, France revealed the remains of a 4th century Roman villa. Over 50 pieces of ceramic pots and 30 fragments of wall paintings were dug up from the trenches. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was employed to determine (a) the nature of the pigmentation observed on the inner side of the ceramic pots and (b) the painting technique used for the wall-paintings. Over 7 pigments were identified and spectral evidence suggests that the fresco technique was indeed used for the wall-paintings. The ceramic pots seem to have been used for mixing the pigments used in the paintings.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 007	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Raman Investigation On 18th Century Painted Wooden Sculptures
Irene Aliatis¹; Danilo Bersani¹; Pier Paolo Lottici¹; Iari-Gabriel Marino¹; Michela Berzioli²; Antonella Casoli²; Ilaria Cavazzoni²
¹Physics Department, University, Parma, Italy; ²Chemistry Department, University, Parma, Italy

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Summary
Micro-Raman spectroscopy is used to identify the pigments in the original painting layer and subsequent restorations on four wooden polychrome sculptures, representing the Holy Virgin Mary, by Jan Geernaert (1704-1777), a Flemish sculptor who worked in Piacenza, Italy, for about fifty years. Phthalocyanines, ultramarine blue, chrome yellow and zinc yellow confirm later interventions.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 008	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Systematic Application Of Raman Spectroscopy To Characterize Mesoamerican Archaeological Objects
Jasinto Robles-Camacho^{1, 2}; Marco Antonio Meneses²; Analía Sicardi-Segade²; Oracio Barbosa-García²; Gabriel Ramos-Ortiza²; Jose Luis Maldonado²
¹Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico; ²Centro de Investigaciones en Optica, Leon, Mexico

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Summary
In this work we summarize the systematic application of Raman spectroscopy (RS) to analyze Mesoamerican objects, previously characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The aim of this work is to establish a non-destructive methodology to characterize chemical-mineralogical components in lapidary pieces which were susceptible to be transported along for more than 500 kilometer from its raw material source. A great variety of rocks and mono-minerals have been identified as main components in mobile artifacts of religious and hierarchy use. Our goal was focused to measure powdered and solid rocks, using continuous and pulsed excitation Raman spectroscopy, identifying metamorphic and hydrothermal minerals.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 009	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Development and Improvement of Portable Raman Imaging Spectrometers for Studying Cultural Properties
Akira Sakamoto¹; Shukichi Ochiai²; Hisamitsu Higashiyama²; Koji Masutani²; Jun-ichi Kimura²; Emi Koseto-Horyu³; Mitsuo Tasumi⁴
¹Grad. Sch. of Sci. & Eng., Saitama Univ., Sakura-ku, Saitama, Japan; ²S. T. Japan Inc., Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; ³National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura, Chiba, Japan; ⁴SAPIARC, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

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Summary
We report the development of portable Raman imaging spectrometers using liquid-crystal tunable filters (LCTF's) with Raman excitations at 785 and 532 nm and their application to cultural properties, in particular, ukiyo-e (color prints of everyday life in the Edo period). We also report the development of a portable Raman imaging spectrometer using dimension-compressed imaging optical fibers and a dispersive spectrometer.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 010	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
FTIR and Raman Spectroscopy in the analysis of archaeological samples
Theodore Ganetsos^{1, 4}; Katerina Douka^{1, 2, 3}; Thomas Higham^{1, 2, 3}; Nikos Laskaris^{1, 4}
¹, Lamia, Greece; ²University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; ³University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; ⁴TEI of Lamia, LAMIA, GREECE

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Summary
This study demonstrates the utility of the Raman and FTIR for the physico-chemical characterization of precious archaeological collagen samples. It is suggested that this technique could and should become a routine approach in archaeometry, especially when there are issues of material diagenesis and/or post excavation contamination (e.g. museum conservantants). Our results show that these minimally-destructive techniques can supply fundamental information not only with respect to the preservation status of collagen at the molecular level, but also to identify the presence of sources of exogenous carbon not removed by sample pretreatment chemistry priory to stable isotope and radioisotope analyses.

Code: TP06	Time Slot/Poster Number: 011	Session: Art, Archaeology and Astrobiology
Mineralogical Appraisal Of Ancient Brick Samples Using FT-IR Spectroscopy
Velraj G¹; Sathya P²
¹Periyar University, Salem, India; ²Muthayammal College of Arts and Science, Rasipuram, India

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Summary
Archaeology is concerning intellectual curiosity and finding ways to turn that curiosity into knowledge about people in the past through their material remains. Of the assorted archaeological remnants, brick is a durable and versatile material made from burnt clay and is significantly influenced by the mineral content of raw materials. In the present work, Fourier Transform Infrared analysis was utilized to investigate the mineralogical composition of three archaic brick samples excavated from Gangaikondasolapuram, Tamilnadu, India. While the building is no longer extant, the bricks remaining in the buried foundations hold information about the technologies and materials used by brick makers.