X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen Fabrics
We propose a new method for dating ancient linen threads by inspecting their structural degradation by means of wide-angle X-ray scattering. X-ray dating of a textile sample can be performed nondestructively and on a submillimeter area, e.g., 0.2 0.5 mm<sup>2</sup>, exploiting new table-...
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doaj-5c5e90323d1d4a0b8d3f517e18ff971c2020-11-25T02:21:20ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082019-11-01242763278310.3390/heritage2040171heritage2040171X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen FabricsLiberato De Caro0Cinzia Giannini1Rocco Lassandro2Francesco Scattarella3Teresa Sibillano4Emilio Matricciani5Giulio Fanti6Istituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IC-CNR), via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, ItalyIstituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IC-CNR), via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, ItalyIstituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IC-CNR), via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, ItalyIstituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IC-CNR), via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, ItalyIstituto di Cristallografia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IC-CNR), via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, ItalyDipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza L. da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, ItalyDipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Via Gradenigo 6/a, Università di Padova, 35131 Padova, ItalyWe propose a new method for dating ancient linen threads by inspecting their structural degradation by means of wide-angle X-ray scattering. X-ray dating of a textile sample can be performed nondestructively and on a submillimeter area, e.g., 0.2 0.5 mm<sup>2</sup>, exploiting new table-top X-ray micro-sources. A theoretical formula is derived for dating linen samples directly from wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements. Our preliminary results show that X-ray dating results are in agreement with other dating sources, such as the radiocarbon method and historical records, if some conditions are satisfied. Indeed, this new dating method can be applied only to threads not older than about thirty centuries because of the saturation of the structural degradation with age. Moreover, the method can be applied only on textiles in which cellulose degradation is mainly due by natural aging arising from thermal, hydrolytic, photolytic, photochemical, and oxidative processes. Analyses can be repeated several times on the same sample, which remains unaltered for other complementary characterization procedures. The proposed X-ray dating of some ancient linen fabrics opens the way to explore limits and potentialities of this new approach and to further develop a new dating method, alternative to the existing ones for specific applications in archeological studies.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/2/4/171radiocarbon datingx-ray datingwaxscellulose degradationnatural agingarchaeological textiles |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Liberato De Caro Cinzia Giannini Rocco Lassandro Francesco Scattarella Teresa Sibillano Emilio Matricciani Giulio Fanti |
spellingShingle |
Liberato De Caro Cinzia Giannini Rocco Lassandro Francesco Scattarella Teresa Sibillano Emilio Matricciani Giulio Fanti X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen Fabrics Heritage radiocarbon dating x-ray dating waxs cellulose degradation natural aging archaeological textiles |
author_facet |
Liberato De Caro Cinzia Giannini Rocco Lassandro Francesco Scattarella Teresa Sibillano Emilio Matricciani Giulio Fanti |
author_sort |
Liberato De Caro |
title |
X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen Fabrics |
title_short |
X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen Fabrics |
title_full |
X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen Fabrics |
title_fullStr |
X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen Fabrics |
title_full_unstemmed |
X-Ray Dating of Ancient Linen Fabrics |
title_sort |
x-ray dating of ancient linen fabrics |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Heritage |
issn |
2571-9408 |
publishDate |
2019-11-01 |
description |
We propose a new method for dating ancient linen threads by inspecting their structural degradation by means of wide-angle X-ray scattering. X-ray dating of a textile sample can be performed nondestructively and on a submillimeter area, e.g., 0.2 0.5 mm<sup>2</sup>, exploiting new table-top X-ray micro-sources. A theoretical formula is derived for dating linen samples directly from wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements. Our preliminary results show that X-ray dating results are in agreement with other dating sources, such as the radiocarbon method and historical records, if some conditions are satisfied. Indeed, this new dating method can be applied only to threads not older than about thirty centuries because of the saturation of the structural degradation with age. Moreover, the method can be applied only on textiles in which cellulose degradation is mainly due by natural aging arising from thermal, hydrolytic, photolytic, photochemical, and oxidative processes. Analyses can be repeated several times on the same sample, which remains unaltered for other complementary characterization procedures. The proposed X-ray dating of some ancient linen fabrics opens the way to explore limits and potentialities of this new approach and to further develop a new dating method, alternative to the existing ones for specific applications in archeological studies. |
topic |
radiocarbon dating x-ray dating waxs cellulose degradation natural aging archaeological textiles |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/2/4/171 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT liberatodecaro xraydatingofancientlinenfabrics AT cinziagiannini xraydatingofancientlinenfabrics AT roccolassandro xraydatingofancientlinenfabrics AT francescoscattarella xraydatingofancientlinenfabrics AT teresasibillano xraydatingofancientlinenfabrics AT emiliomatricciani xraydatingofancientlinenfabrics AT giuliofanti xraydatingofancientlinenfabrics |
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