Analysis of Ancient Metals provides a guide to the identification and analysis of ancient metals and alloys. The title details the various analytical methods and procedures in dealing with different metals and alloys. The text first discusses the heterogeneity of ancient metals and the sampling problem, and then proceeds to covering preliminary observations and measurements, qualitative tests, and choice of quantitative method. The next series of chapters details the methods and procedures in the analysis of gold, silver, copper, iron, and steel, as well as various nonferrous metals. The last chapter discusses the concerns in reporting the findings. The book will be of great interest to materials engineers and metallurgists. Archeologists and museologists will also greatly benefit from the text.

This book examines archaeometallurgy and the preservation of ancient materials for cultural heritage. Through understanding the internal structures of relevant ancient materials, their chemical composition, resistance, hardness, etc., their conservation can be more effectively addressed. Preserving cultural artifacts, such as those from border sites, funerary contexts (burials), railway lines, ceremonial sites and road infrastructure, is necessary to provide perspective to a culture’s trajectory. This book addresses how Reverse Engineering can disseminate knowledge of a culture’s heritage by offering technology that can help restore artifacts so they may be displayed and utilized as educational objects.

The sixteen essays in this volume reflect a wide range of research concerning methods for metals conservation, particularly in respect to ancient and historic objects. The variety of issues discussed includes considerations in the cleaning of ancient bronze vessels; the processes involved in bronze casting, finishing, patination, and corrosion; studies of manufacturing techniques of gold objects in ancient African and medieval European metalworking; techniques of mercury gilding in the 18th century; an investigation of patina in the classification of bronze surfaces from land and lake environments; an examination of bronze objects from the Benin Kingdom, Nigeria; the history of restoration of the Marcus Aurelius monument in Rome; the corrosion of iron in architecture; and applications of radiographic tomography to the study of metal objects.

More than fifteen centuries after its fall, the Roman Empire remains one of the most formative influences on the history of Europe. Its physical remains dot the landscape from Scotland to Syria. Its cities are still the great metropolises of the continent. Its law and institutions have shaped modern practice, and its ideal of a united Europe has haunted politicians ever since. Fully illustrated and featuring more than sixty full- colour maps, this atlas traces the rise and fall of the first great multinational state. It looks at its provinces and cities, its trade and economy, its armies and frontier defences; follows its foreign ward and internecine struggles; and charts its transformation into a Christian theocracy and its fall in 476.