Pitfalls and Possibilities of Patinated Bronze: The Analysis of Pre-Roman Italian Armour Using pXRF

Abstract

Despite the importance of weapons and armour as part of material culture in the Mediterranean during the first millennium BCE, such objects have generally not been studied beyond stylistic analyses. Bronze was extensively used in the construction of these materials; however, its characterisation is complicated due to patination and the different manufacturing techniques used. We used portable XRF (pXRF) to non-destructively characterise bronze material in a way that mitigates the distorting effects of patina. Analysis was conducted on 23 pieces of pre-Roman Italian bronze armour. Assays were taken using two different techniques; ‘single point’ assays and ‘cluster’ assays. There is variability visible across assays both on and between items, grouped both geographically and chronologically. We highlight significant trends visible in the results over time and different object types and discuss the utility of pXRF on ancient bronze with recommendations for best practice.

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