Microstructure analysis of metal artefacts from the Carpathian Basin – a brief methodology of the Argum's metallographic practice

Abstract

In the last period, several projects were initiated in the field of examination of artefacts because of the development of the materials testing equipment and methods. This research work gave new results on the historical studies and the technological levels of different ages. The examination of metallic artefacts has a great importance in this work. The answers to our questions on the structure of metals are continuously searched for by means of new measurement methods. Optical microscopy and classic metallography have a significant role in the research projects of the mentioned area. Nowadays it is not necessary to use complicated etching methods to study the different metallographic phases. SEM-EDS studies of the same sample provide information on the chemical composition of the phases, and it is possible to examine the structure at higher magnification. This study summarizes the amount of information obtained from the project, and the practice of the Archaeometallurgical Research Group of the University of Miskolc (ARGUM), based on these measurement methods. Selected examples are used to show the in-depth analysis of the microstructure. Metallography is a destructive material testing method, as samples must be taken from the artefacts. Questions of heritage protection and restoration arise. In all cases, the balance between the amount of information and the restoration or protection must be considered.