Application of Spectrochemical Analysis in the Study of Archaeological Textiles

복식유물의 연구에 있어서 분광화학분석의 활용

  • 안춘순 (인천대학교 의생활학과)
  • Published : 1999.12.01

Abstract

This research utilized the Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy(EDS) and the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry in the analysis of chemical elements present among the textiles exhumed from Kupori Hwasung-kun Kyunggi-do. The two research objectives were: first to examine the elements present and their percent presence in Kupori samples: second to investigate whether the elements are part of mordant substances which could have been used when dyeing the KUpori textiles in the past. To meet such research purposes standard silk fabric was dyed with Sophorajaponica using alum and iron mordants. For alum mordant unpurified general alum and potassium aluminum sulfate(AlK(SO4)2). iron sulfate(FeSO4·7H2O) were used, From the results of EDS and ICP-Mass analysis the following conclusions were drawn. 1 According to the EDS analysis 9 elements Ca, S, Al, Si, K, Fe, P, Mg and Na were detected. 2. ICP-Mass result of the mordant chemicas showed high amount of A, Al and k present in alum mordants and S and Fe present in iron mordants. 3. Comparison of the ICP-Mass results of the mordant chemicals and those of the standard dyed samples suggested that the amount presence of Al and Fe is a strong indication of the usage of alum and iron mordants respecticely in an unknown dyed textile. 4, In the washed Kupori textiles Fe showed a relatively higher rate of presence in the samples Therefore it can be conjectured that those Kupori textiles were dyed with iron mordant based on the result of the above number 3. 5. It is probable that the other elements detected from the Kupori samples were incorporated into the textiles as part of the soil debris produced from the degradation of the dead within the coffin or the earth debris. They can also be part of the inorganic compounds inherent in the silk textiles themselves before dyed. 6. Among the elements it is likely that Ca which showed a high degree of presence among the unwashed samples was part of the inorganic compound inferent in the silk textiles.

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