X-ray computed tomography for non-destructive analysis of early Medieval swords

Stelzner, Jörg; Gauß, Florian; Schuetz, Philipp

doi:10.1179/2047058414y.0000000157

Cited by 13 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

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“…Computed Tomography contributes to the analysis of the "chaîne opératoire" of artefacts, especially in bronze or iron. It provides a complete visual of the artefact its structure thus accessing pertinent information for its technological study, which differs from a more superficial analysis restricted to the study of the object and the surface marks linked to its manufacture (Mödlinger 2008;Stelzner 2016;. This new method gives us the opportunity to see objects in 3D and to understand the detail of their internal structure.…”

Section: Computed Tomography (Ct-scan)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The protohistoric sword from Le Gué-de-Velluire (Vendée, France): A pasticcio’s history unveiled by archaeometrical research

Dumont

Dupuy²,

Nicolas

et al. 2020

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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The Gué-de-Velluire sword (Vendée, France) is part of the Rochebrune collection collected during the 19 th and the 20 th centuries and now preserved in the Dobrée Museum in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique, France). The unusual shape of its hilt, its uncorroded rivets and the rather uncommon combination of a bronze grip with an iron blade made this sword an exceptional object. It has been depicted in a large number of papers since the 20 th century, but the question of its authenticity has hardly ever been tackled. New analyses performed with the support of the Dobrée Museum, the Arc'Antique laboratory and Ghent University delivered new data enabling us to discuss this delicate question. First, a CT-scan of the sword was performed by the BCRX company (Mordelles, Ille-et-Vilaine, France), offering the opportunity to visualise the inner structure of the hilt and especially the way it is fixed to the iron blade. Secondly, X-Ray Fluorescence analyses were performed by the Arc'Antique laboratory (Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France) to determine the composition of the different parts of the sword (hilt, rivets and blade). Comparing the results of both analyses with Rochebrune's archives allowed us to assert this weapon is a fake, most likely consisting of two authentic archaeological artefacts, and to reconstruct its production process, shedding light on early 20 th century collector's practices.

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Section: Computed Tomography (Ct-scan)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The protohistoric sword from Le Gué-de-Velluire (Vendée, France): A pasticcio’s history unveiled by archaeometrical research

Dumont

Dupuy²,

Nicolas

et al. 2020

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Applications of Microct Imaging to Archaeobotanical Research

Barron

2023

J Archaeol Method Theory

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The potential applications of microCT scanning in the field of archaeobotany are only just beginning to be explored. The imaging technique can extract new archaeobotanical information from existing archaeobotanical collections as well as create new archaeobotanical assemblages within ancient ceramics and other artefact types. The technique could aid in answering archaeobotanical questions about the early histories of some of the world’s most important food crops from geographical regions with amongst the poorest rates of archaeobotanical preservation and where ancient plant exploitation remains poorly understood. This paper reviews current uses of microCT imaging in the investigation of archaeobotanical questions, as well as in cognate fields of geosciences, geoarchaeology, botany and palaeobotany. The technique has to date been used in a small number of novel methodological studies to extract internal anatomical morphologies and three-dimensional quantitative data from a range of food crops, which includes sexually-propagated cereals and legumes, and asexually-propagated underground storage organs (USOs). The large three-dimensional, digital datasets produced by microCT scanning have been shown to aid in taxonomic identification of archaeobotanical specimens, as well as robustly assess domestication status. In the future, as scanning technology, computer processing power and data storage capacities continue to improve, the possible applications of microCT scanning to archaeobotanical studies will only increase with the development of machine and deep learning networks enabling the automation of analyses of large archaeobotanical assemblages.

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