CHARACTERISATION OF METAL THREADS FROM ARCHAELOGICAL TEXTILES RELIGIOUS BY METHODS OF ARCHAEOMETRY

Abstract

The paper presents the experimental results regarding the study of the chemical nature and the state of conservation of the metal filters used in the decoration of two textile garments (stihar and chess) of archaeological origin, recovered from the tomb of Metropolitan Gavriil Banulescu Bodoni, located in Căpriana monastery, monastic settlement from the medieval period in the Republic of Moldova. Textile and metallic yarns in the structure of liturgical garments were analyzed following a multi-technical, non-invasive approach, using optical microscopy, pXRF and FTIR to identify the type of yarn and their morphological characteristics, manufacturing techniques used for yarn production and metal composition / alloys. The major elements detected during the XRF analysis are gold, silver alone or combined, lead and copper. Gold is usually found as a surface coating film for silver wires and silver bands. All the wire threads studied are drawn, the surface of these threads either bears the characteristic striations from the draw plate or the signs of the rolling process. Silver-copper alloys were detected in the strips that were cut from a metal sheet, whether gilt at one side or not. All of the fabrics now appear more or less brownish or blackish due to the decomposition of the human remains, and maybe also the degradation of the natural dyestuffs used for the silks.

Keywords

• metal thread
• silver layer
• corrosion
• om
• pxrf
• ftir.