ABSTRACT
The furnace walls and slags from Tangjiadun site in Zongyang County of Anhui Province were analyzed by means of X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF), X-ray diffraction analyzer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in order to probe into the copper smelting technology of Tangjiadun site. Results show that the furnace walls are from the copper smelting furnaces and the slags are the reduced slag. According to the concentrations of elements As, Ag, Sb and Bi in copper prills, it can be calculated that relative probabilities that these copper prills in the slags come from the copper sulfide ore reach over 87. 87%. Combined with the results of SEM-EDS, the smelting process of "copper sulphide ore-copper" was used in Tangjiadun site, and the smelting remains (slags and prills) were considered as the smelting products of sulphide copper ore. This study is not only beneficial to research on bronze cultural of Zongyang County, but also has very important significance to explore the development and evolution of bronze metallurgy technology in Zongyang-Lujiang area.
ABSTRACT
Archaeological lime powders samples from Taosi and Yinxu sites, natural limestone and experimentally prepared lime mortar were investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) to identify the raw material of lime powders from Taosi and Yinxu sites. Results show that ν2/ν4 ratio of calcite resulted from carbonation reaction of man-made lime is around 6.31, which is higher than that of calcite in natural limestone and reflects the difference in the disorder of calcite crystal structure among the natural limestone and prepared lime mortar. With additional grinding, the values of v2 and ν4 in natural limestone and prepared lime mortar decrease. Meanwhile, the trend lines of ν2 versus ν4 for calcite in experimentally prepared lime mortar have a steeper slope when compared to calcite in natural limestone. These imply that ν2/ν4 ratio and the slope of the trend lines of ν2 versus ν4 can be used to determine the archaeological man-made lime. Based on the experiment results, it is possible that the archaeological lime powder from Taosi and Yinxu sites was prepared using man-made lime and the ancient Chinese have mastered the calcining technology of man-made lime in the late Neolithic period about 4 300 years ago.
ABSTRACT
The traditional lime mortar was investigated by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). The results show that the mortar from the memorial archway in the southern Anhui province was the organic-inorganic composite materials composed of lime with tung oil or sticky rice. It was found that the excellent performance of the tung oil-lime mortar can be explained by the compact lamellar organic-inorganic composite structure that was produced by carbonization reaction of lime, cross-linking reactions of tung oil and oxygen and complexing reaction of Ca2+ and -COO-. The compact micro-structure of sticky rice-lime mortar, which was produced due to carbonation process of lime controlled by amylopectin, should be the cause of the good performance of this kind of organic-inorganic mortar.
ABSTRACT
Liesegang patterns in traditional sticky rice-lime mortar undergoing carbonation were investigated by means of FTIR, XRD and SEM. Results indicate that well-developed Liesegang patterns only occur in the mortar prepared with aged lime and sticky rice. The smaller Ca(OH)2 particle size in aged lime and the control of the sticky rice for the crystallization of calcium carbonate lead to the small pores in this mortar. These small pores can make Ca2+ and CO3(2-) highly supersaturated, which explains the reason why Liesegang pattern developed in the sticky rice-aged lime mortar. The formed metastable aragonite proves that Liesegang pattern could be explained based on the post-nucleation theory.
