Recognizing ancient papyri by a combination of spectroscopic, diffractional and chromatographic analytical tools

J Łojewska,M Missori,I Rabin,M A Aksamit-Koperska,M Sitarz,M Krutzsch,J Bagniuk,D Pawcenis

doi:10.1038/srep46236

Abstract

Ancient papyri are a written heritage of culture that flourished more than 3000 years ago in Egypt. One of the most significant collections in the world is housed in the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection in Berlin, from where the samples for our investigation come. The papyrologists, curators and conservators of such collections search intensely for the analytical detail that would allow ancient papyri to be distinguished from modern fabrications, in order to detect possible forgeries, assess papyrus deterioration state, and improve the design of storage conditions and conservation methods. This has become the aim of our investigation. The samples were studied by a number of methods, including spectroscopic (FTIR, fluorescent-FS, Raman) diffractional (XRD) and chromatographic (size exclusion chromatography-SEC), selected in order to determine degradation parameters: overall oxidation of lignocellulosic material, degree of polymerization and crystallinity of cellulose. The results were correlated with those obtained from carefully selected model samples including modern papyri and paper of different composition aged at elevated temperature in humid air. The methods were classified in the order SEC > FS > FTIR > XRD, based on their effectiveness in discriminating the state of papyri degradation. However, the most trustworthy evaluation of the age of papyri samples should rely on several methods.

Highlights

Provenance, and offer insight into trade routes
In this work we have explored the potentiality of numerous methods including the vibrational spectroscopy, chromatography and X-ray diffraction for characterization of the natural degradation of papyrus
A vital problem associated with infrared spectroscopic analysis of cellulose containing ancient and contemporary materials is a band at around 1640 cm−1, which corresponds to bending vibrations of bound water present in cellulosic materials at ambient conditions

Summary

Introduction

Correlating the texts with the quality of the writing support would improve our understanding of the preparation of papyri for specific uses To this end, it is extremely important to distinguish the effect on a papyrus of natural ageing, compared to that caused by factors such as light, especially in the UV region of the spectrum, long exposure to high humidity, excessive heat, and short-term fluctuations of environmental conditions. It is extremely important to distinguish the effect on a papyrus of natural ageing, compared to that caused by factors such as light, especially in the UV region of the spectrum, long exposure to high humidity, excessive heat, and short-term fluctuations of environmental conditions Further factors such as wear, papyrus re-use in antiquity and historical conservation contribute considerably to the changes in the material state, as compared to pristine examples.

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Discussion

Conclusion