Scanning electron microscopy with X-ray microanalyses (SEM-EDX) was used for a technological study of silver jewellery from three hoards found in Poland. The assemblage consists of 26 artefacts from the period of formation of the first Polish state (900-1039 AD) and can be divided into three groups: West Slavic, post-Moravian and Scandinavian. Research results provide information concerning techniques used for granulation ornament and the provenance of raw silver. Elemental composition changes are manifested mainly by different Cu contents. A higher Cu content was found in solder. The higher Cu content in relation to the morphology of the joining region with visibly spilled granulation demonstrates that the West Slavic beads were produced with the use of metallic soldering. On the other hand, other studied jewelleries are characterised by Cu, Sn, Sb and Zn enrichments in oxidised soldering regions, which implies that they were manufactured with the use of non-metallic soldering. In addition, studies on the provenance of the raw material were made based on the analysis of lead isotopic ratios. For this purpose, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used, and the obtained lead isotopic ratios were processed using linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The isotope study demonstrates that all examined artefacts were made using re-melted metal from multiple sources. The most probable sources of silver were ores from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Freiberg (Germany).
The paper discusses a gun barrel of a possibly late 15th-early 16th c. date from the collection of the Castle Museum in Malbork (Marienburg), Poland (MZM/468/MT). The barrel was originally part of a hand-held gun (a hackbut?) and was later converted into a light cannon. The barrel was made from unevenly carburised soft steel (c. 0.1-0.2% C). Both metallographic examinations and the analysis of slag inclusions with the use of multivariate statistics suggest that the metal in the barrel was manufactured using the direct (bloomery) smelting process.
A unique relief fibula dated to the Migration Period (first half of the sixth century) was found in Radziejów, Poland. This stray find changes previous opinions on the lack of settlement in central Poland at that time. As the find is the only one of such type in Poland, a special attention was paid to possible analogies, mainly finds from Scandinavia and Western Europe. The fibula underwent technological analyses in order to reveal its technology of manufacture. For this purpose, the chemical and elemental composition of the alloy was studied. Several physico-chemical complementary techniques such as optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and micro-hardness testing (HV0.2) were used to study the technology of the find. The investigations revealed that this artefact was made from brass (4-17 wt% Zn) with an admixture of Sn (2-12 wt%). Two technologies were used: casting for the bow and forming for the part with the axle of the spring. The artefact's surface was tinned in the hot-dipping process. The physical structural analyses demonstrated that the artefact was cast and ornamented by surface stamping under a relatively low temperature (about 500°C).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.