• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.257-264
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• 2012

Ancient mirrors are generally made of bronze, and it is very rare to find cases of iron mirrors excavated domestically. In this study, the unidentified ferrous artifact was treated for conservation, and was identified as a mirror. In this process, the sample was taken and analyzed for microstructure, and the manufacturing technology was studied. Analysis involved optical microscope, micro-hardness tester, and SEM-EDS. As the result of analysis, iron mirror structure exist not almost non-metallic inclusions, and partially network cementite was observed. This appears to have been caused by reduced carbon content due to decarburizing the cast iron in the solid state mirror which was created by cast iron. The ledeburite structure of the casting has difficult to cut or polish because has great hardness by high carbon content. Thus, the cast iron mirror was decarburized at a temperature under $850^{\circ}C$ with CO or $CO_2$ blocked, which reduced the hardness of the iron mirror and made it possible to polish the mirror surface. This deformation of structure according to carbon content results from such manufacturing technology.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.25
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• pp.85-94
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• 2021

Conservation treatment of metallic artifacts contaminated with corrosion and foreign substances requires changes in the shape, characteristics, weight and thickness of the artifacts. Thus far, recording the changes after conservation treatment has mainly been performed through visual observation and photography, which lacks any quantitative description of the changes. In this study, the processes of removing foreign substances, joining cracks, and restoring an affected area were recorded using 3D scanning and then quantitatively analyzed to identify changes in form due to conservation treatment. The volume change after the conservation process was calculated based on the results of the 3D scanning, and numerical data on the changes to the form was analyzed. It was revealed that the foreign or corroded substances removed after the conservation accounted for 18.1 cm³, which is approximately 52% of the total volume of the ring pommel, and those substances were removed from about 98% of the surface of the ring pommel. This study confirmed that 3D form analysis was useful for recording the processes of conservation treatment and analyzing the results. It is therefore believed that this methodology can be applicable to not only metal artifacts, but to cultural heritage items in a range of materials.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.210-223
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• 2014

When sarira reliquary was found in stone pagoda of Mireuksa Temple, there were 494 gold artifacts, including inner gold pot, gold plate with inscription for Sarira enshrinement, etc. Most of gold artifacts were crafted, but there were 22 gold plates and 4 gold ingots, which did not have any specific shape. It was considered that they had not been crafted. Since gold exists as a metal rather than a metallic oxide in nature, in general, it can be crafted by melting and shaping. However, gold in nature has impurities so it has to be refined to have malleability. The characteristic features were identified through the analysis of gold artifacts from sarira reliquary found in stone pagoda of Mireuksa Temple. The analysis result showed that there were 3 types of gold; pure gold artifacts, artifacts produced with silver containing gold and natural gold ingots. Inner gold pot, gold earrings and gold small beads were produced with pure gold and they contained less than 1wt.% of copper. It seemed like they were produced as pure gold to be shaped by hammering. Gold plate with inscription, tweezers, gold earrings, ingots, etc. were produced with silver containing gold as they had to be more solid. Gold ingots seemed to be natural gold considering the distribution of silver and copper in them, but it cannot be concluded as there are not enough information on gold ingots in Korea. The comprehensive research on gold ingots from various regions in Korea has to be carried out to confirm the above. Sarira Reliquary showed the very sophisticated gold craftsmanship. Gold ingots with the inscriptions, which say 1 nyang, were approximately 14g. Considering the weight of these ingots as standard, weights of other ingots were half nyang(7g), 2 nyang(28g), etc.