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Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction

A stone chest found in 1971 near one of the largest early Christian basilicas in Northern Dalmatia (Croatia) contained brass tiles decorated with various biblical scenes. An archaeological study confirmed the thesis that the fragments of brass tiles are most likely the remains of a wooden chest made...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rudolf, Rebeka, Slapnik, Janez, Bobovnik, Rajko
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9821597/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36614471
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16010133
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author Rudolf, Rebeka
Slapnik, Janez
Bobovnik, Rajko
author_facet Rudolf, Rebeka
Slapnik, Janez
Bobovnik, Rajko
author_sort Rudolf, Rebeka
collection PubMed
description A stone chest found in 1971 near one of the largest early Christian basilicas in Northern Dalmatia (Croatia) contained brass tiles decorated with various biblical scenes. An archaeological study confirmed the thesis that the fragments of brass tiles are most likely the remains of a wooden chest made in the 4th century AD, and that this is one of the best preserved archaeological finds of its kind in the world as one of the biblical scenes shows Mary, together with a record of her name (Maria). Based on the preserved brass tiles, a reconstruction of the wooden chest was made in 1973 with tiles glued onto a plastic frame. Subsequent studies have shown that such a reconstruction was not adequate, as some of the brass tiles were destroyed (disintegrated), and they were not connected properly into a whole that could represent the original. For the new reconstruction of this archaeological object it was necessary to carry out a material analysis, including the chemical composition of the brass tiles, as well as to find a solvent for the glue which could be used to remove the brass tiles from the plastic framework without any additional destruction. Based on extensive investigations and material analyses including the following techniques (SEM, EDX, FTIR, DSC), the starting points for the restoration process of the wooden chest with brass tiles were set, as well as the proposal for the appearance of the new chest.
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spelling pubmed-98215972023-01-07 Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction Rudolf, Rebeka Slapnik, Janez Bobovnik, Rajko Materials (Basel) Article A stone chest found in 1971 near one of the largest early Christian basilicas in Northern Dalmatia (Croatia) contained brass tiles decorated with various biblical scenes. An archaeological study confirmed the thesis that the fragments of brass tiles are most likely the remains of a wooden chest made in the 4th century AD, and that this is one of the best preserved archaeological finds of its kind in the world as one of the biblical scenes shows Mary, together with a record of her name (Maria). Based on the preserved brass tiles, a reconstruction of the wooden chest was made in 1973 with tiles glued onto a plastic frame. Subsequent studies have shown that such a reconstruction was not adequate, as some of the brass tiles were destroyed (disintegrated), and they were not connected properly into a whole that could represent the original. For the new reconstruction of this archaeological object it was necessary to carry out a material analysis, including the chemical composition of the brass tiles, as well as to find a solvent for the glue which could be used to remove the brass tiles from the plastic framework without any additional destruction. Based on extensive investigations and material analyses including the following techniques (SEM, EDX, FTIR, DSC), the starting points for the restoration process of the wooden chest with brass tiles were set, as well as the proposal for the appearance of the new chest. MDPI 2022-12-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9821597/ /pubmed/36614471 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16010133 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Rudolf, Rebeka
Slapnik, Janez
Bobovnik, Rajko
Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction
title Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction
title_full Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction
title_fullStr Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction
title_full_unstemmed Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction
title_short Material Analysis of the Remains of a Wooden Chest from the 4th Century and a Proposal for Its Reconstruction
title_sort material analysis of the remains of a wooden chest from the 4th century and a proposal for its reconstruction
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9821597/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36614471
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma16010133
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