Abstract
Bronze metallurgy was a significant step in human technology and civilization as societies evolved from the Neolithic to the Bronze period and acquired the ability to shape different metals into useful tools. The technology to work with copper and bronze was independently developed across the world and, due to different smelting techniques and local ore chemistry, metal ware developed in different regions of the world at various time periods have unique chemical profiles. We previously developed a technique to identify metal alloys based on their stimulated dynamic magnetic signatures. We demonstrated that metals of different chemical composition would exhibit different electrical conductivity, and thus different magnetic field strengths when evoked by different levels of electric current. We further demonstrated that the electromagnetic signatures could be detected by the internal magnetometers located inside most smartphones as a part of the internal compass. In this manuscript we have compiled the electromagnetic signatures and magnetic force vectors of different copper alloys in various electromagnetic fields. The database of signatures are cross-referenced to chemical composition and tensile strength such that one can quickly compare the magnetic signatures of any unknown copper and bronze artifact and arrive at a tentative identity of the metal artifact.
Highlights
Copper was one of the first metals to be utilized by early civilizations
While pure copper served as the control, tin bronze and manganese bronze were analyzed for their chemical, physical, and electromagnetic properties
Bronze artifacts have been continuously produced across the world since the dawn of the Bronze Age in 3300 BC
Summary
Copper was one of the first metals to be utilized by early civilizations. Pure copper metals could be found in many regions across the world, and cold hammered copper pins and awls have been uncovered from archaeological sites in Eastern Anatolia dating as far back as 7000 BC [1, 2]. Due to the different smelting techniques and chemical compositions of local ores, bronze artifacts from around the world often have unique chemical composition profiles [6]. We previously developed a noninvasive method of identifying the chemical composition of metals based on their electromagnetic signatures [10]. Lucas Braddock Chen: A Novel Method of Archaeological Bronze Identification - Electromagnetic Signatures vs Chemical Composition profile at different electric conduction levels, one can readily identify the composition of the steel sample. As much of ancient bronzeware invariably contains various combinations of arsenic, lead, phosphorus, aluminum, manganese, and silicon from local ores, bronze made in different parts of the world have unique magnetic profiles. In this article we present a database of electromagnetic signatures extracted at different electrical voltages and show their correlation to the chemical compositions of standardized samples of copper, tin bronze, and manganese bronze
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