Characterisation and Analysis of Metallic Artefacts from the Pylos Archaeological Museum

Abstract

The present study focuses on the analysis of four unique artefacts, originally recovered from a tomb complex of the Hellenistic period and now displayed at the New Pylos Archaeological Museum, Niokastro fortress of Pylos, Greece (since 2016). The items are rod-shaped, with a length between 5.5 and 14.6 cm and intricate decorative patterns. The rods were analysed following a multi-technique, non-invasive approach, using optical microscopy, XRF, SEM/EDS and FTIR. The analysis suggests that the three brown rods are made of wrought iron; successive areas of calcite crystal formations are associated with environmental depositions and corrosion defects. The white rod shows distinctly different chemical characteristics: it is composed of a thick core identified as bone and covered by a thin layer of lead. The combined microscopic, chemical and spectroscopic analysis resulted in the chemical characterisation of the artefacts and thus in a better understanding of their properties. In turn, the analysis has lead to hypotheses for the likely function of these unique artefacts (i.e. three writing implements and one decorative hinge).

Keywords

• Hellenistic
• Pylos
• SEM/EDS
• FTIR
• ancient stylus