0000000000930143

AUTHOR

Nicolò Bruno

showing 2 related works from this author

First discovery of orichalcum ingots from the remains of a 6th century BC shipwreck near Gela (Sicily) seabed

2017

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…

010506 paleontologyArcheology060102 archaeologyArcheology (arts and humanities)06 humanities and the artsOrichalcum01 natural sciencesSettore CHIM/12 - Chimica Dell'Ambiente E Dei Beni CulturaliX-rays fluorescenceingotsingotOrichalcum ingots X-rays fluorescence archaeometallurgyarchaeometallurgy0601 history and archaeology0105 earth and related environmental sciencesSettore CHIM/02 - Chimica Fisica
researchProduct

A multivariate approach to the study of orichalcum ingots from the underwater Gela's archaeological site

2017

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…

Multivariate statisticsChemometric approach010401 analytical chemistryMetallurgyMineralogy02 engineering and technologyOrichalcum ingot021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyLinear discriminant analysis01 natural sciencesArchaeology0104 chemical sciencesAnalytical ChemistryBrassvisual_artPrincipal component analysisOutliervisual_art.visual_art_mediumICP-OESICP-MSUnderwaterIngot0210 nano-technologyGeologySpectroscopy
researchProduct