Methodologies for the investigation of corroded iron objects: examples from prehistoric sites in South-eastern Arabia and Western Iran

Title
Methodologies for the investigation of corroded iron objects: examples from prehistoric sites in South-eastern Arabia and Western Iran
Publication Date
2017
Author(s)
Stepanov, Ivan
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7380-921X
Email: istepano@myune.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:istepano
Weeks, Lloyd
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4736-9633
Email: lweeks2@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:lweeks2
Franke, Kristina
Cable, Charlotte
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2199-9282
Email: ccable@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ccable
Overlaet, Bruno
Magee, Peter
Handel, Marc
Aali, Yaaquob Youssef al
Radwan, Mansour Boraik
Zein, Hassan
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Routledge
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1080/20548923.2018.1424304
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/26700
Abstract
Ancient iron objects from early Iron Age archaeological sites are almost always severely corroded, which can severely limit the possibilities for their archaeometallurgical analysis. In this paper, a range of corroded iron objects from different sites and regions of the ancient Near East are investigated with the purpose of developing an integrated scientific approach to the investigation of such materials, outlining the capabilities and major technical limitations of currently available techniques. Specific objectives of the research include: (1) Assessing the state of degradation of ancient ferrous objects in respect to the portion of remnant carburized areas preserved; (2) Identifying metallographic structures and evaluating the carbon content from the observation of remnant carburized areas; (3) Developing an understanding of the representativeness of remnant carburized areas in corroded ferrous samples; and (4) Exploring the validity and technical constraints of SEM-EDS analyses of slag inclusions in corroded iron artefacts for the determination of provenance.
Link
Citation
Science and Technology of Archaeological Research, 3(2), p. 270-284
ISSN
2054-8923
Start page
270
End page
284
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International

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