A silvered shield grip from the Roman Period: a technological study of its silver coating
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ORIGINAL PAPER
A silvered shield grip from the Roman Period: a technological study of its silver coating Ewelina A. Miśta-Jakubowska 1 & Izabela Fijał-Kirejczyk 1 & Ryszard Diduszko 2 & Aneta M. Gójska 1 & Paweł Kalbarczyk 3 & Jacek J. Milczarek 1 & Krystian Trela 4 & Grzegorz Żabiński 5 Received: 20 December 2017 / Accepted: 29 November 2018 / Published online: 17 December 2018 # The Author(s) 2018
Abstract A unique shield grip decorated with openwork rivet plates was found in a Roman Period cemetery of the Przeworsk culture in Czersk, Central Poland. The artefact underwent specialist analyses with the use of various techniques in order to reveal its silvering technology. Several silvering techniques were considered as the most probable: foil silvering, mercury silvering and silver plating. A number of complementary analytical methods such as laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), X-ray diffraction and neutron techniques were used in the examinations. Two silvering technologies were identified: foil silvering and mechanical treatment of silver pieces. On the basis of the specific correlation of maximum contents of silver (Ag), copper (Cu) and tin (Sn) in external layers of the artefact, it was found out that the surface of the openwork plates had been first covered with alloy with a high content of tin and copper as a solder. Then, a thin silver foil was applied onto it. On the other hand, combs of the shield grip were ornamented using non-soldering technology, i.e. hammering and punching. Keywords Przeworsk culture . Barbaricum . Roman Period . Ancient metallurgy . Silvering techniques . SEM-EDX . Neutron techniques . LA-ICP-MS . XRD
Introduction Ornamentation of plates with the use of silvering processes was a difficult task to perform, which can be a reason for the absence of such artefacts in the territory of present-day Poland. Shield grips which bear some visual similarity have been found in Radved in Jutland (Kjaer 1900: p.114ff, Fig. 3; Watt 2003, Fig. 9b), Brodstrup in Öland Island, Sweden (Rasch 1991: p.109) and Hamfelde, Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg, Germany (Bantelman 1971: p.124). A study of these artefacts can provide us with some indications
* Ewelina A. Miśta-Jakubowska [email protected] 1
National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ), Otwock, Poland
2
Institute of Technology of Electronic Materials, Warsaw, Poland
3
Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw, Poland
4
Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warszawa, Poland
5
Institute of History, Jan Długosz University, Częstochowa, Poland
concerning possible ornamentation analogies outside the territory of the Przeworsk culture. Furthermore, it informs us about trade directions in the Roman Period. Until now, no results of physico-chemical analyses of such artefacts have been published. Although visual features of all the mentioned grips are similar, almost no silvered layers survived to
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