Distinguishability between ancient and modern leaded tin bronzes by the composition of their lead inclusions

S. Shilstein*, A. Berner, Y. Feldman, S. Shalev, Yu Rosenberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The composition of lead inclusions in modern and ancient leaded tin bronzes was studied by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Lattice parameter of lead inclusions in all bronzes was smaller than the lattice parameter of pure lead. This determination indicates that lead inclusions in bronzes are nothing else but Pb–Sn solid solutions. Tin concentration in lead inclusions in modern bronzes was not less than 3 at% in accordance with the Pb–Sn phase diagram, tin concentration in lead inclusions of ancient bronzes was as low as 1 at%. This difference enables a distinction between ancient bronze artefacts and modern products including the most sophisticated fakes. On the other hand, our work demonstrates that the generally accepted Pb–Sn phase diagram corresponds to an incomplete equilibrium state and only after centuries-long aging at ambient temperatures does the Pb–Sn solid solution reach real equilibrium.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)29-35
Number of pages7
JournalScience and Technology of Archaeological Research
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Dec 2019

Funding

The authors express their thanks to N. Bower, N. YahalomMack and L. Wolf for presentation the samples for this study, to E. Mintz and U. Boblitski for help and to K. Gartsman, N.V. Martyushev, P. Valério and E. Zolotoyabko for helpful discussions. The authors gratefully thank to the Referees for the constructive comments and recommendations which stimulated to improve the readability and quality of the paper.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Archaeology
  • Archaeology

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