Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Arsenical Copper
Alloying Elements: copper, arsenic
Other Elements: lead, iron, nickel, silver, antimony
K. Eremin, January 2014
XRF data from Artax 1
Alloy: Arsenical Copper
Alloying Elements: copper, arsenic
Other Elements: lead, nickel
K. Eremin, January 2014
Technical Observations: The patina is dark green and brown with areas of lighter green and red. The blade is mostly or completely mineralized, and chips are missing from the tip as well as from one of the two back corners. Thick layers of corrosion and burial accretions are present in most areas, and no part of the original surface is visible. One of the two pins that held the shaft in place is preserved.
The poor condition of the surface obscures clear evidence of the means of manufacture. The blade was probably cast from a wax model made directly in the wax. Hammering may have been used to further finish, shape, and harden the metal, but there is no evidence of this. The remaining copper alloy pin, which secured the shaft, measures 3 x 3 x 12 mm.
Henry Lie (submitted 2012)