Three types of alloys were recognized when analyzing pre-Columbian artifacts from the North of Peru: gold, silver, and copper alloys; gilded copper and silver; silvered copper; tumbaga, i.e., copper or silver enriched on gold at the surface by depletion gilding. In this paper, a method is described to differentiate gold alloys from gilded copper and from copper-gold tumbaga, and silver alloys from silvered copper and copper-silver tumbaga. This method is based on the use of energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, i.e., on a sophisticated analysis of XRF-spectra carrying out an accurate determination of Cu(K (alpha) /K (beta) ), Ag(K (alpha) /K (beta) ), Au(L (alpha) /L (beta) ), and Au-L (alpha) /Cu-K (alpha) or Ag-K (alpha) /Cu-K (alpha) ratios. That implies a dedicated software for the quantitative determination of the area of X-ray peaks. This method was first checked by a relevant number of standard samples and then it was applied to pre-Columbian alloys from the North of Peru.
Multilayered artifacts in the pre-Columbian metallurgy from the North of Peru / Angel D., Bustamante; Julio S., Fabian; Walter, Alva; Luis Z., Chero; C., Espinoza; Rosendo R., Rodriguez; Marco F., Seclen; Fidel V., Gutierrez; Edgard B., Levano; A. J., Gonzales; Marcia A., Rizzutto; Enrico, Poli; Cristiane, Calza; Marcelino, Dos anjos; Ricardo T., Lopes; Gigante, Giovanni Ettore; G. M., Ingo; Carlos, Elera; Izumi, Shimada; Victor, Curay; Maria G., Castillo; Fabio, Lopes; Ulla, Holmquist; David, Diestra. - In: APPLIED PHYSICS. A, MATERIALS SCIENCE & PROCESSING. - ISSN 0947-8396. - STAMPA. - 113:4(2013), pp. 889-903. [10.1007/s00339-013-7738-8]
Multilayered artifacts in the pre-Columbian metallurgy from the North of Peru
GIGANTE, Giovanni Ettore;
2013
Abstract
Three types of alloys were recognized when analyzing pre-Columbian artifacts from the North of Peru: gold, silver, and copper alloys; gilded copper and silver; silvered copper; tumbaga, i.e., copper or silver enriched on gold at the surface by depletion gilding. In this paper, a method is described to differentiate gold alloys from gilded copper and from copper-gold tumbaga, and silver alloys from silvered copper and copper-silver tumbaga. This method is based on the use of energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, i.e., on a sophisticated analysis of XRF-spectra carrying out an accurate determination of Cu(K (alpha) /K (beta) ), Ag(K (alpha) /K (beta) ), Au(L (alpha) /L (beta) ), and Au-L (alpha) /Cu-K (alpha) or Ag-K (alpha) /Cu-K (alpha) ratios. That implies a dedicated software for the quantitative determination of the area of X-ray peaks. This method was first checked by a relevant number of standard samples and then it was applied to pre-Columbian alloys from the North of Peru.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
