Degradation of archaeological horn silver artefacts in burials - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Heritage Science Année : 2014

Degradation of archaeological horn silver artefacts in burials

Geraldine Marchand
  • Fonction : Auteur
Elodie Guilminot
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1199522
Stéphane Lemoine
  • Fonction : Auteur
Loretta Rossetti
  • Fonction : Auteur
Michelle Vieau
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

Background: Archaeological silver objects from burial sites are of a grey-lavender aspect. The formation of AgCl leads to an increase in the volume of the objects, which may undergo a complete transformation into corrosion products. This degradation process has been little studied to date. In this paper, eight horn silver objects were studied by SEM and XRD. Results: Analyses showed a corrosion system composed of bi-layers: a compact inner layer and a porous outer layer. Corrosion products were mainly silver chlorides (AgCl), chlorargyrite. Some objects displayed copper inclusions both in the metallic core and in the inner layer. Highly mineralized objects contained other oxygen-rich phases (with Si, Ca) in the inner layer. Soil markers were detected in the outer layer. Conclusion: Based on these results, we put forward a corrosion mechanism for horn silver objects. Silver chloride is formed by the disappearance of the initial silver oxide layer. This AgCl layer is not protective and supports ion transport. Thus an outer layer of silver chloride, incorporating soil markers, is formed.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Marchand Guilminot Heritage Science 2014 (1).pdf (1.84 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte

Dates et versions

hal-03890031 , version 1 (08-12-2022)

Identifiants

Citer

Geraldine Marchand, Elodie Guilminot, Stéphane Lemoine, Loretta Rossetti, Michelle Vieau, et al.. Degradation of archaeological horn silver artefacts in burials. Heritage Science, 2014, 2, pp.5. ⟨10.1186/2050-7445-2-5⟩. ⟨hal-03890031⟩
11 Consultations
8 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Mastodon Facebook X LinkedIn More