Characterisation of Roman copper alloy artefacts and soil from Rakafot 54 (Beer Sheva, Israel)

Manuel J.H. Peters, Yuval Goren, Peter Fabian, José Mirao, Sabrina Grassini, Emma Angelini
Abstract:
The research presented in this paper focused on the preliminary non-destructive analysis of copper alloys, corrosion, and soil components from a Roman archaeological site in Israel. pXRF, XRD, and micromorphological analyses were carried out to gain a better understanding of the corrosion processes affecting the copper alloy artefacts, by characterising the alloy composition, soil environments, and corrosion products. Preliminary results indicate that the artefacts consist of copper-lead-tin alloys, covered by copper hydroxy-chlorides and lead sulphate phases with slight variations in their crystallisation. The multianalytical approach revealed the presence of quartz, calcite, gypsum and feldspars in the sediments, while thin sections more specifically indicate loess soils with local micro-environments.
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IMEKO-TC4-METROARCHAEO-2019-78.pdf
DOI:
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Event details
IMEKO TC:
TC4
Event name:
TC4 MetroArchaeo 2019
Title:

IMEKO TC4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

Place:
Florence, ITALY
Time:
04 December 2019 - 06 December 2019