Production technology and knowledge transfer of calcite-tempered grey ware bowls from 2nd- to 5th-century ce Noricum (Austria)

Aspects of 2nd- to 5th-century ce Roman production technology and knowledge transfer in southern Austria (known as Noricum) were examined. With no evidence for workshops identified in the study area, 44 grey ware bowls from two sites at Aguntum and Lavant were studied macroscopically, and combined with optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, prompt gamma activation, neutron activation and scanning electron microscopy, in order to understand whether one (large) workshop supplied these bowls, or whether the bowls were produced by several (small) workshops nearby. Combined with information from the geological background, the results were used to tentatively indicate the production location. The results indicate that the grey ware bowls from Aguntum and Lavant were produced by local workshops nearby. The bowls were manufactured with similar clay sources, tempered with crushed calcite-marble rocks from the Tauern Window, their surface smoothed and burnished, and fired between 800 and 850°C in a reducing atmosphere of an open fire. This is taken to suggest that Roman potters, who were located at Aguntum and Lavant, shared strategies of raw materials selection, paste preparation, finishing and firing, and transferred technological knowledge through time.     

明益王“秋波”琴的漆涂层材料与工艺分析

孙中山故居纪念馆馆藏一张明代落霞式古琴“秋波”,据考证为明代受封于江西抚州的益王监制。清代以后,它被广东的文人琴士评为广东四大名琴之一。运用剖面显微观察、扫描电镜能谱分析、显微拉曼、光学光热红外显微光谱、热裂解-色谱质谱分析等科学检测手段,对古琴脱落的大漆残片进行了无机和有机成分分析,并对其工艺进行了讨论。实验结果表明,大漆残片保存了两个时期的不同髹漆工艺,早期以蛋白质类和非/半干性油黏结剂混合黏土类无机矿物做灰胎,晚期以大漆和干性油黏结剂混合鹿角霜/骨灰做灰胎并掺加少量黄铜屑。将科学分析与古琴槽腹、琴背的铭文相印证,进一步明确了“秋波”琴明末斫髹、清末修复的流传历史。此外,运用盖蒂保护中心研发的ESCAPE数据分析方法,首次在中国传世古琴样品中明确鉴定出一般认为产自越南的野漆品种laccol,其为清代重修时广东中山的修琴师使用添加的。本研究立足于古琴文物实体,以详尽的科学实验为支撑,并参阅《太古遗音》《髹饰录》等文献,为明代益王琴的制作工艺提供了参考,同时为古琴文物的保护修复提供了科学支撑。