Spectroscopic investigation of metal and amber objects from the bronze-age site of Fondarca

Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the composition of some of the objects found in the archaeological context of Fondarca, as explained in the archaeological section of this paper. In particular, the fibula and the small bar and button (described by archaeologists as bronze and amber objects respectively) have been examined. Knowing the constituent materials is especially relevant to the identification of the technological processes used for ancient artefacts and also to making hypotheses about the origins of the materials used, such as amber. To gather compositional and technological information about the examined object, non-invasive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and micro-invasive Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used. XRF was applied on the metal objects in order to establish their composition in terms of chemical elements. FTIR was selected as molecular spectroscopic technique to confirm the presence of amber and, possibly, its provenance