Nuragic Working Tools Characterization with Corrosion Layer Determinations

Area of Science:

• Archaeometallurgy
• Materials Science
• Ancient Civilizations

Background:

• Mediterranean civilizations possess rich metalsmith histories, with many objects sharing common traits.
• Working tools represent a distinct class of artifacts often clustered by usage.
• The Nuragic civilization in Sardinia offers a unique case study for ancient metalworking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To chemically characterize working tools from the Nuragic civilization using non-destructive analysis.
• To quantify the elemental composition of alloys in ancient metal artifacts.
• To explore the capabilities of Monte Carlo simulations in analyzing complex corrosion layers.

Main Methods:

• Non-destructive X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis was employed.
• Monte Carlo simulations were utilized for quantitative analysis of alloy composition.
• The XRMC package was specifically used for simulating and characterizing corrosion layers.

Main Results:

• Accurate quantification of chemical species within the tool alloys was achieved.
• Complex corrosion layers were successfully reproduced and chemically characterized for the first time.
• Detailed chemical insights into Nuragic metalworking practices were obtained.

Conclusions:

• X-ray Fluorescence combined with Monte Carlo simulations provides a powerful method for analyzing ancient metal artifacts.
• The study successfully characterized the composition and corrosion of Nuragic tools.
• This research contributes to understanding ancient Mediterranean metalworking technologies.