Studying a 2 millennia old bronze kettle using easily accessible characterization techniques

A bronze kettle dating from the 1st to 2nd century was found in a riverbed of the Kupa river in Croatia. After excavation it spent another 50 years in a depot of a museum in atmospheric conditions prior to starting the conservation treatment and our studies. A study on the surface layers development was performed to determine the whereabouts of the object through its history. This study is a demonstration of how such analysis can be used to reconstruct what the object went through during its life span. Samples taken from the kettle were observed by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and analysed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was determined that the kettle is made of low-tin bronze, with low amounts of iron, aluminium, calcium and nickel. While being in the riverbed malachite formed on the kettle. After longer exposure to the river Si-oxides and CaCO3 formed on the surface of the kettle, over malachite. It was shown that the kettle probably had a ferrous alloy handle which degraded and disappeared in time. After excavation, the kettle came again in an oxygen-enriched atmosphere and formed new surface layers over the malachite layer. As the museum the kettle has been kept in since excavation is set in a highly industrial area sulphur compounds have been formed on the surface.

Automated summary

This study discusses the discovery of a bronze kettle dating from the 1st to 2nd century in the riverbed of the Kupa river in Croatia and its subsequent conservation and research. Analysis of the surface layers development of the kettle helps reconstruct its history and the conditions it went through during its life span. The study used various techniques such as optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy to examine the composition and formation of surface layers on the kettle.