XRF Ink Analysis of Selected Fragments from the Herculaneum Collection of the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli
- Hundreds of papyrus rolls, carbonized during the 79CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, were discovered in 1754 at Herculaneum. Sophisticated mechanical methods for unrolling the best-preserved scrolls have been applied, with varying success. However, such processes have been abandoned, to prevent risk from irremediable damage or loss and to preserve the integrity of the extremely fragile rolls. Following the development of X-ray based non-invasive techniques, attempts to virtually unroll the scrolls were made. The most common ink in Antiquity was carbon-based, and the main element of carbonized papyrus is carbon, making these investigations difficult. However, some attempts with synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) were successful. Recently, the identification of antique inks containing metals raised hope that if some of the inks contain metal the rolls can be virtually unrolled using conventional CT- technique. We investigated the inks of a selection of partially unrolledHundreds of papyrus rolls, carbonized during the 79CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius, were discovered in 1754 at Herculaneum. Sophisticated mechanical methods for unrolling the best-preserved scrolls have been applied, with varying success. However, such processes have been abandoned, to prevent risk from irremediable damage or loss and to preserve the integrity of the extremely fragile rolls. Following the development of X-ray based non-invasive techniques, attempts to virtually unroll the scrolls were made. The most common ink in Antiquity was carbon-based, and the main element of carbonized papyrus is carbon, making these investigations difficult. However, some attempts with synchrotron X-ray phase-contrast tomography (XPCT) were successful. Recently, the identification of antique inks containing metals raised hope that if some of the inks contain metal the rolls can be virtually unrolled using conventional CT- technique. We investigated the inks of a selection of partially unrolled fragments stored at the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli with X-ray fluorescence in order to select the best candidates for tomography. Despite the many difficulties (analysis of several layers sticking together, letters barely visible, difficulty to separate contribution from the ink and from the papyrus, inhomogeneity of the support, fragility of the fragments…), encouraging results were found, with a number of inks from Greek fragments found to contain additions to the soot (Fe, Pb, Cu P).…
Autor*innen: | Olivier BonnerotORCiD, G. Del Mastro, J. Hammerstaedt, V. Mocella, Ira Rabin |
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Persönliche Herausgeber*innen: | M. Capasso, P. Davoli, N. Pellé |
Dokumenttyp: | Beitrag zu einem Tagungsband |
Veröffentlichungsform: | Graue Literatur |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Titel des übergeordneten Werkes (Englisch): | Proceedings of the 29th lntemational Congress of Papyrology, Lecce 28 July-3 August 2019 |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2022 |
Organisationseinheit der BAM: | 4 Material und Umwelt |
4 Material und Umwelt / 4.5 Kunst- und Kulturgutanalyse | |
Verlag: | Centro di Studi Papirologici dell’Università del Salento |
Verlagsort: | Lecce |
Erste Seite: | 200 |
Letzte Seite: | 213 |
DDC-Klassifikation: | Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / Chemie / Analytische Chemie |
Freie Schlagwörter: | Herculaneum; XRF; ink; papyrus |
Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM: | Chemie und Prozesstechnik |
DOI: | 10.1285/i99788883051760 |
URL: | http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/29th_ICP/issue/view/1881 |
ISBN: | 978-88-8305-177-7 |
Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments: | Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access") |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 05.05.2022 |
Referierte Publikation: | Nein |