@article{10902/35418,
year = {2024},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10902/35418},
abstract = {Materials characterisation by non-invasive analytical methods is already a standardised practice in Archaeology. However, problems may arise in the chemical identification of certain materials that lead to erroneous interpretations. In this study, we address the case of a fragment found in the well-documented archaeological site of Colonia Celsa (Velilla de Ebro, Zaragoza, Spain), first labeled during fieldworks as a glass fragment, subsequently this hypothesis was descarted by macroscopic archaeological recognition, then it was analyzed and identified as a natural resin, and finally, as a polymer blend upon a reinterpretation of the chemical characterisation. Based on this case of study, a methodological protocol for characterising unknown materials using non-invasive analytical methods was developed. A set of reference samples from natural resins were analysed using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and finally, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry as a reference method. The obtained data were statistically processed to assess affinities and differences between the analysed samples, and the results of the different techniques were compared, indicating that the sample was a blend of high-density polyethene with ethylene vinyl acetate, (i.e., an out-of-place artefact). The reported procedure may be useful for specialists working in archaeological science and a warning signal in archaeometry studies.},
organization = {Research, Culture and Sport of the Valencian Generality for funding
the project PROMETEO 2019-056.
Grant PID2020-117299GB-I00 (Glass Imitations of Stones in the
Roman Period and their Reinterpretation in the Modern Era. Acronym:
LAPISVITRUMQUE), funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. G.G. acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
and Ministry of Universities for the grant BEAGAL18/00110.},
publisher = {Elsevier},
publisher = {Microchemical Journal, 2024, 207, 112088},
title = {"Natural or synthetic": the identification history of an object in an archaeological context},
author = {Gallello, Gianni and Setién Marquínez, Jesús and Cisneros Cunchillos, Miguel and Valls Mompó, Marc and Martín Ramos, Pablo and Ortiz Palomar, María Esperanza and Paz Peralta, Juan Ángel and Pastor, Agustín and Marín Arroyo, Ana Belén},
}