Applications of Qualitative Trace Element Analyses: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Materials Conservation
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ABSTRACT This interdisciplinary study was designed to learn the chemical found in tabby using nonof organic residues constituency destructive analytical techniques such as X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Important information and Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) . pertaining to events of the past can be preserved in organic materials. The related disciplines of historic preservation and archaeology can benefit from the recovery of that information, especially when conducting collaborative research. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of these two techniques in their ability to characterize the chemical composition of tabby, a building material that incorporates large quantities of shell. Although useful qualitative data regarding the chemical composition of tabby was obtained using both methods, the best results were obtained using PIXE. These results suggest that PIXE represents a viable and accurate alternative for compositional analysis of materials with an organic component commonly encountered by historic preservationists and archaeologists. INTRODUCTION This interdisciplinary study was designed to learn the chemical constituency
of
organic
residues
found
in
tabby,
using
non-
destructive analytical techniques. The main goal was to maximize the amount of information regarding chemical composition of tabby, while minimizing the amount of physical damage to it. The methods involved in this test were X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and ParticleInduced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) . The results of this methodological comparison provided some interesting insights into compositional analysis. PROBLEM DEFINITION Organic materials, or materials with high organic content, are fairly common in archaeology and historic preservation. Knowing the chemical composition of such materials can be extremely helpful in the interpretation of an archaeological or historic site. However, the need for this information must be balanced against the potential loss to the archaeological or historical record by using destructive analytical techniques. The original purpose of this study was to evaluate the chemical composition of tabby, a building material that incorporates large quantities of shell, to aid in the development of a modern recipe for its restoration. The tabby samples comprising the focus of this study were drawn from a number of sites located in the 323 Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 462 ©1997 Materials Research Society
heartland of tabby use, the southeast coast of North America. Tabby was selected for analysis because the information generated from its study represents a critical component of the research agendas possessed by the individual investigators. In addition, the authors sought to firmly establish the relationship between archaeology and historic preservation, uniting them by developing common non-destructive analytical techniques for compositional analysis. The theme connecting these seemingly disparate disciplines was a desire to know what the chemical constituents of tabby were, how they ch
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