0000000000930142
AUTHOR
Paolo Conti
Newly discovered orichalcum ingots from Mediterranean sea: Further investigation
Abstract In February 2016, 47 ingots were found in the seabed of Contrada Bulala (Gela, CL, Italy) near the site where 40 ingots had previously been recovered. The ingots composition was determined to be a Cu - Zn alloy, dated by the archaeologist to the VI century B.C. This specific alloy was then known as Orichalcum. From an archaeological point of view, the first question raised about the new discovery was whether the ingots of the first and the second excavations belonged to the same shipwreck. Following the previous study, an elemental analysis was performed on the ingots from the second finding by using ICP-OS and ICP-MS techniques. The chemometric treatment of the analytical results …
Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructured Cobalt Hexacyanoferrate
Cobalt hexacyanoferrate (CoHCF) nanoparticles have been synthesized by mixing aqueous solutions of K3Fe(CN)6 and CoCl2 under vigorous stirring at different temperatures and following two different procedures, drop-by-drop or immediate mixing. The resulting CoHCF nanoparticles, with dimensions of several tens of nanometers, were characterized using TEM, SEM-EDX, IR, and XRD. Their electrochemical behavior was investigated in comparison with the CoHCF powder bulk compound. The CoHCF nanoparticles exhibit an electrochemically driven conversion to the bulk one that has been investigated by a chemometric approach in order to establish the best synthetic parameters. The rate and the degree of con…
First discovery of orichalcum ingots from the remains of a 6th century BC shipwreck near Gela (Sicily) seabed
Ingots recently recovered from the seabed near Gela, a major harbour of Sicily, reveal an unexpected side of ancient metallurgy. The ingots were found near remains of a ship and earthenware dated around the end of the VI century BC and probably coming from the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean sea. The ingots were analysed by means of X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy via a portable spectrometer. Results indicate that they are mostly consist of copper and zinc although many of them have a significant amount of lead. This alloy is nowday called brass, but in ancient time it was know as orichalcum, one of the rarest and most precious alloy along with gold and silver. Only small items of oric…
A multivariate approach to the study of orichalcum ingots from the underwater Gela's archaeological site
Abstract In this work a careful ICP-OES and ICP-MS investigation of 38 ancient ingots has been performed to determine both major components and trace elements content to find a correlation between the observed different features and the composition. The ingots, recovered in an underwater archaeological site of various finds near Gela (CL, Italy), were previously investigated by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy to know the composition of the alloy and it was found that the major elements were copper and zinc, in a ratio compatible with the famous orichalcum similar to the contemporary brass that was considered a precious metal in ancient times. The discovery of huge amount this alloy is…