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325376

Analytical Techniques for Degradation Assessment of A Skeleton Dating Back to The Greco-Roman Period

Article

Last updated: 01 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Organic chemistry

Abstract

The Agricultural Museum in Giza, Egypt contains many archaeological bone artifacts. These include the studied skeleton. As a result of the inappropriate environmental conditions to which the skeleton was exposed both in the burial environment and in the museum's environment, there were many aspects of deterioration, including holes, different stains derived from various sources, accumulation of dust, dirt, color change, etc. This study aims to use analytical methods to diagnose the aspects of deterioration of a skeleton dating back to the Greco-Roman era and explain its deterioration mechanism to provide some recommendations regarding long-term conservation treatment that must be carried out in the next study. The authors prepared a new bone samples. Small fallen samples from the skeleton were used in the analytical study. Photographic and AutoCAD documentation were used to record the aspects of deterioration, Light microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Attenuated Total Reflection – Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR/FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), change of color, pH measurement, Isolation and identification of fungi were used to explain the deterioration mechanisms and estimate the conditions of the skeleton studied.

The results of the photographic and AutoCAD documentation and light microscope showed some aspects of deterioration such as accumulated dust, discoloration, salt efflorescence, stains, erosion, missed parts, holes, etc. SEM investigation revealed the effect of environmental conditions on the surface morphology of the skeleton. FTIR analysis proved that some chemical changes occurred. pH value of different samples taken from the skeleton was in the level of acidity compared to modern bone, which was at the basic level.

DOI

10.21608/ejchem.2023.239495.8686

Keywords

Baboon skeleton, Greco-Roman Period, deterioration, Documentation, Analytical techniques

Authors

First Name

Gomaa

Last Name

Abdel-Maksoud

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, 12613 Giza, Egypt

Email

gomaa2014@cu.edu.eg

City

Giza

Orcid

0000-0002-7964-5746

First Name

Sawsan

Last Name

Darwish

MiddleName

Sayed

Affiliation

Conservation department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, 12613 Giza, Egypt

Email

sawsansd@cu.edu.eg

City

Giza

Orcid

-

First Name

Asmaa

Last Name

Hassaballah

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Tanta Museum, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Tanta, Egypt.

Email

soma_roka100@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

67

Article Issue

5

Related Issue

46682

Issue Date

2024-05-01

Receive Date

2023-09-28

Publish Date

2024-05-01

Page Start

479

Page End

488

Print ISSN

0449-2285

Online ISSN

2357-0245

Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/article_325376.html

Detail API

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=325376

Order

325,376

Type

Original Article

Type Code

297

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Chemistry

Publication Link

https://ejchem.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Analytical Techniques for Degradation Assessment of A Skeleton Dating Back to The Greco-Roman Period

Details

Type

Article

Created At

30 Dec 2024