Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Point 1: Cu, 82.28; Sn, 12.81; Pb, 2.37; Zn, 0.09; Fe, 0.48; Ni, 0.19; Ag, 0.15; Sb, 0.8; As, 0.51; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.03; Au, 0.283; Cd, less than 0.001
Point 2: Cu, 49.03; Sn, 44.3; Pb, 3.1; Zn, 0.266; Fe, 0.5; Ni, 0.23; Ag, 0.16; Sb, 1.35; As, 1.02; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.042; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Bronze:
Point 3: Cu, 76.27; Sn, 19.39; Pb, 1.64; Zn, 0.195; Fe, 0.61; Ni, 0.16; Ag, 0.13; Sb, 0.75; As, 0.82; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.031; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001
J. Riederer
Chemical Composition: XRF data from Tracer
Alloy: Bronze
Alloying Elements: copper, tin
Other Elements: lead, iron, nickel, silver, antimony, arsenic
K. Eremin, January 2014
Technical Observations: The patina consists of a lustrous, variegated green and black surface with brown encrustations in low areas. Patches of a top crust of corrosion with fibrous-looking pseudomorphs are present mostly on the underside and in a few isolated places on the exterior. Iron corrosion is present at the end of the bow where the spring used to be and inside the clasp. The pin is also missing, but the fibula has iron corrosion on the extant terminals, which is possibly an indication that the pin and spring were iron.
The bow is hollow and was cast with a small rectangular hole on the top exterior and a larger rectangular hole on the underside, which were probably created by core pins. There are casting flaws on the bow, three of which have ancient copper alloy plugs. The largest of these flaws is irregularly shaped, with edges slightly beveled inward to fit the plug snugly. It was filled by pouring molten metal into the hole. Excess metal from this pour is visible in the interior of the bow and reveals the rectangular imprint of the core pin that was then removed. The other two plugs are round; the one near the large plug is 2.5 mm in diameter, and the other is 4 mm in diameter. The larger round plug and the large fill both have the same engraved design of lines and pointillé surround them as the surrounding metal. This indicates that the surface design was made after casting, probably by engraving the lines and punching the dots. All of these repair plugs for casting flaws were clearly done in antiquity. The iron corrosion at the spring end of the bow and within the clasp may be the remains of an iron pin used to fasten the fibula.
Carol Snow (submitted 2002)