Archaeometry最新文献

In icon painting, chalk whiting is key to creating a gesso ground, providing a smooth, absorbent surface for paint. Calcareous nannofossils, tiny marine skeletons found in chalk, are an ideal tool for analyzing the origin of an icon's chalk ground, often the only reliable information about where the icon came from.

This paper summarizes an analysis of nannofossil assemblages from calcareous whiting in the collections of the National Museum in Krakow, previously analyzed, and the National Museum of Przemyśl Land, where new studies were conducted on 34 samples from icons and 1 from chalk in Mielnik on the Bug River. Nannofossil assemblages from the Przemyśl icons came from the Upper Cretaceous, mainly from the lower Maastrichtian. They showed a predominance of Arkhangelskiella cymbiformis and Micula decussata, while one sample was characterized by the predominance of Watznaueria barnesiae and the presence of the endemic Nannoconus truitti.

Comparative studies of calcareous nannofossil assemblages from gesso in Przemyśl and Krakow collections reveal two main groups. Over half of the analyzed icons contain boreal assemblages that are highly similar to those found in Chełm's chalk, suggesting the most probable source due to historical mining activities. The remaining boreal nannofossil assemblages do not match chalk from Chełm or Mielnik. A separate group of icons features Tethyan assemblages, while others used pre-Campanian–Maastrichtian Tethyan sediments for their gesso.

The research methods detailed in this article can be applied to analyze whiting backgrounds in panel paintings, including those beyond museum icons. This allows for pinpointing the material's origin and connecting artworks to specific artistic environments.

With this contribution, an attempt is being made to chart the timeline of the invention of the European hard-paste porcelain based on historical documents. They were evaluated to trace the development lines from Tschirnhaus's early experiments with burning mirrors and lenses in the 1680s to finding ‘wax porcelain’ around 1694 to the coincidental origination of red fine stoneware (‘jasper porcelain’) in 1706, and finally, to the targeted invention of white calcareous porcelain in 1708. It will be shown how the triumvirate Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651–1708), Gottfried Pabst von Ohain (1656–1729) and Johann Jacob Bartholomäi (1670–1742), together with Johann Friedrich Böttger (1682–1719) arrived at their successful invention. Traditional porcelain paste recipes were recalculated and compared to the chemical and mineralogical compositions of calcareous Meissen porcelain and contemporary Chinese porcelain of the Kangxi epoch (1661–1722).

This study presents a novel remote sensing method to detect 17th-century environmental elements associated with the historical fortifications of Gdanska Glowa in Poland. By integrating 10-band multispectral imaging, high-resolution (1 m) digital elevation models, vegetation metrics and random forest classification within Google Earth Engine, the approach identifies subtle topographic and environmental traces of former earthworks. This scalable workflow offers a reproducible solution for remote archaeological investigations. Although field validation remains necessary to confirm specific targets, the methodology provides a robust foundation for heritage research and informs future conservation strategies.

This study presents the first comprehensive analysis of the pigments and techniques used by Charles Fairfax Murray (1849–1919), a leading expert in Italian Renaissance attribution, influential art collector and primary copyist for John Ruskin. Using a multidisciplinary approach combining MA-XRF, single-point XRF and XRD, FORS and advanced imaging techniques, this research identifies the materials Murray employed while replicating works by Italian Old Masters, including Tintoretto and Botticelli, during the Italian Renaissance revival of the 19th century. This study examines eight artworks from the Ruskin Teaching Collection at the Ashmolean Museum, identifying the use of both traditional pigments, such as vermillion and red, yellow and brown ochres, and newer, industrially produced pigments including cobalt blue and Prussian blue-based greens. XRF mapping reveals localized use of chrome, zinc and cadmium-based pigments, suggesting later modifications. Created between circa 1870–1881, these works demonstrate Murray's application of traditional artistic teachings and colour theory used during the Renaissance in the scope of pigment innovations during the Industrial Revolution. Multispectral imaging and infrared reflectography reveal the preparatory underdrawings made of each work, including the use of the grid technique to ensure accuracy and proportion. This research underscores the importance of interdisciplinary scientific analysis in exploring the Victorian-era art of replication, a practice that elevated copying to a celebrated artistic pursuit. It reveals the profound influence of John Ruskin's teachings and Pre-Raphaelite ideals on Charles Fairfax Murray's material choices and artistic approach, particularly his emphasis on authenticity, fidelity to historical methods and the use of lightfast, durable materials. Furthermore, it highlights the pivotal role of the Ruskin Teaching Collection in art education and demonstrates how industrial advancements in pigment technology not only enhanced artistic production and longevity but also broadened public access to the visual language of the Italian Renaissance.

Protohistoric gold findings from the archaeological site of Roca Vecchia (Melendugno, Lecce, Italy) are analyzed involving micrography and stratified XRF analysis. This exploitation allows to get a deeper insight into ancient gold manufacturing and wear processes adopted in the Southern Italian FBA. The compositional data suggest that the objects were made of raw gold. From a detailed analysis of X-ray line ratios, we are able to identify artifacts with a thin, < 1 μm, depletion gilding. The micrography analysis allows to establish that both gold sheets and wires are obtained by hammering techniques and presented surface finishing indicating skilled craftmanship. These sophisticated techniques allowed to manufacturing precious artifacts even in the presence of scarce quantities of raw material, fully exploiting the mechanical properties of gold.

This is a brief response to Nash and Ciborowski's comments in 2025 on our 2024 paper, which focused on the reinterpretation of geochemical data for Stonehenge stone #58 published by Nash et al. in 2020. We address the problems they perceived in our use of absolute elemental concentrations, our selection of discriminating elements, and single-sample comparisons and show the limited relevance of their arguments to our conclusions. We maintain that no definitive geochemical match for stone #58 can be argued based on the available data.