Publication details
Unikátní měděné artefakty s organickými zbytky z pohřebiště kultury zvoncovitých pohárů v Praze - Velké Chuchli
| Title in English | A unique copper artefacts with organic remains from the Bell Beaker cemetery at Prague-Velká Chuchle |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Archeologie ve středních Čechách |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Archaeology, anthropology, ethnology |
| Keywords | archaeometry; copper; organic remains; Betula pendula; SEM; EDX; CT |
| Description | The laboratory of the Methodical centre of conservation (MCK) was in 2008 approached by the Institute of Archaeological Heritage in Prague with the request of examination of copper artefacts lifted in-situ from the grave 81 on the Bell Beaker cemetery at Prague-Velká Chuchle, Na Hvězdárně. Organic remains were extracted during the preparation of the copper plates at the MCK. The remains appeared macroscopically as birch bark. Using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) we attempted to prove exactly the presence of such bark. The chemical composition of the copper plate was established by the Energy Dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX). This analysis proved that the material used for production of the plates is copper (Cu 97,3 %, Pb 2,6 %, As 0,1 %). The comparison of the organic material extracted from the copper plates with the recent birch bark using the SEM we proved that they are of almost identical structure. It is possible to confirm that thanks the copper corrosion the remains of wood and bark of the Betula pendula were preserved in the grave 81. Some differences in the structure of the archaeological and current material are probably as result of the long period deposition in soil. |
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