CHARACTERIZATION AND THERMODYNAMIC INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT GOLD REFINING PROCESSES BASED ON A DIOSCORIDES RECIPE

CHARACTERIZATION AND THERMODYNAMIC INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT GOLD REFINING PROCESSES BASED ON A DIOSCORIDES RECIPE

Daniela Ferro*, Sergio Brutti**, David R. Loepp***, Angela Celauro** 

*Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR(Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.)
**SapienzaUniversitàdiRoma(Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.) 
*** Goldsmith (Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.) 

Abstract

The chemical processes involved in ancient gold refining are investigated based on textual analysis and current archaeological evidence. Ancient cementation recipes in most cases are composed of sulphates and chlorides. Experimentation based on sulphates of a single divalent metal were preferred, in this case a recipe of Dioscorides aimed to imitate the oxidation of a natural sulphide mineral complex reportedly used in ancient gold processing. Experimental archaeology has been employed to reproduce the whole cementation process step by step in order to analyse the composition of the products obtained for each specific chemical equation.
Thermodynamic considerations indicate the reliability of the chemical processes over a wide temperature range. 

{flippingbook_book 16}