Non-Destructive In Situ Study of Ancient Egyptian Faience by Raman Microscopy

✍ Scribed by Robin J. H. Clark; Peter J. Gibbs

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 249 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0377-0486
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4555(199702)28:2/3<99::aid-jrs75>3.0.co;2-u

✦ Synopsis

An in situ, non-destructive study of the coloured glaze on ancient Egyptian faience objects has been performed. The research was undertaken to examine further the e †ectiveness of Raman microscopy as a tool for archaeometric analysis. Initial studies revealed that faience pigmentation could not be analysed when beneath the glaze but only through cross-sections where the glaze was broken or chipped. Further studies showed that Raman microscopy was unsuitable for the analysis of green, blue and white faience but was extremely e †ective for the analysis of red and yellow faience. A study of eight red and eight yellow faience fragments, dated to the XVIIIth Dynasty and uncovered at El-Amarna, revealed that all the red fragments were coloured with red ochre or red earth [ iron(III) oxide plus clay and silica ] and that the colour of the yellow fragments was due to lead antimonate yellow [ lead(II) antimonate ] .