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Development of a multi-analytical approach for the characterization of ancient Roman lead ingots

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Abstract

In the present work the characterization of six ingots of ancient Roman Lead, found on the seabed near Mal Di Ventre Isle (Sardinia-Italy), is presented. The ingots come from three different foundries, defined by following codes found on the particular ingots selves: SOCPONTILIENORUMMF, QAPPCF and MCPONTILIENORUMMF. The foundries were active about 2000 years ago in Sierra de Cartagena (Spain) where some of the most important lead mines of the Roman Empire were located. In order to identify the provenance of the ingots and to shed some lights on their manufacturing we applied a multi-analytical method, based on instrumental neutron activation analysis and thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Coupling the two techniques it was possible to obtain an accurate multi-elemental and isotopical fingerprint of the different ingots, giving some important results in the field of archeo-metallurgy. The possibility to perform such measurements with a non-destructive approach satisfies a very important request of the cultural heritage authorities involved in the protection and conservation of similar goods.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the LENA staff for their precious support during irradiations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Milano-Bicocca, INFN, Milan, Italy

    Massimiliano Clemenza, Giovanni Baccolo, Oliviero Cremonesi, Ettore Fiorini & Ezio Previtali

  2. Department of Physics, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Massimiliano Clemenza & Ettore Fiorini

  3. Laboratorio Energia Nucleare Applicata (L.E.N.A) of the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Michele Prata & Andrea Salvini

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Giovanni Baccolo

  5. Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Alessandro Contini, Massimo Carpinelli, Stefano Enzo, Gabriele Mulas & Valeria Sipala

  6. Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso INFN Italy Servizio di Chimica, Assergi, Italy

    Maria Laura di Vacri, Marco Ferrante & Stefano Nisi

  7. Dipartimento di S.F.C. L’Aquila, Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

    Marco Ferrante

  8. INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy

    Alessandro Contini, Massimo Carpinelli, Gabriele Mulas & Valeria Sipala

  9. Earth Science Department, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Giovanni Baccolo

Authors
  1. Massimiliano Clemenza
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  2. Alessandro Contini
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  3. Giovanni Baccolo
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  4. Maria Laura di Vacri
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  5. Marco Ferrante
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  6. Stefano Nisi
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  7. Massimo Carpinelli
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  8. Oliviero Cremonesi
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  9. Stefano Enzo
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  10. Ettore Fiorini
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  11. Gabriele Mulas
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  12. Michele Prata
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  13. Ezio Previtali
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  14. Andrea Salvini
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  15. Valeria Sipala
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Correspondence to Massimiliano Clemenza.

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Clemenza, M., Contini, A., Baccolo, G. et al. Development of a multi-analytical approach for the characterization of ancient Roman lead ingots. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 311, 1495–1501 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-5040-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-016-5040-x

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