The Unflinching Mr. Smith and the Nuclear Age**

This article focuses on the U.S. diplomat and nuclear arms control negotiator Gerald (Gerry) Coat Smith in order to cast new light on the importance of diplomats in the context of the set of international activities currently labelled as “science diplomacy.” Smith, a lawyer by training, was a key negotiator in many international agreements on post-WW2 atomic energy projects, from those on uranium prospecting and mining, to reactors technologies to later ones on non-proliferation and disarmament. His career in science (nuclear) diplomacy also epitomized the shortcomings of efforts to align other countries’ posture on nuclear affairs to U.S. wishes. In particular, the unswerving diplomat increasingly understood that strong-arm tactics to dissuade other countries from acquiring nuclear weapons would not limit proliferation. Not only did this inform later U.S. diplomacy approaches, but it lent itself to the ascendancy of the new notion of “soft power” as critical to the re-definition of international affairs.     

The use of SEM-EDS,PIXE and EDXRF for obsidian provenance studies in the Near East: a case study from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (central Anatolia)

In this paper we evaluate the relative analytical capabilities of SEM-EDS, PIXE and EDXRF for characterizing archaeologically significant Anatolian obsidians on the basis of their elemental compositions. The study involves 54 geological samples from various sources, together with an archaeological case study involving 100 artifacts from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (central Anatolia). With each technique the artifacts formed two compositional groups that correlated with the East Göllü Da? and Nenezi Da? sources. The non-destructive capabilities of these methods are emphasized (albeit with certain analytical limitations in the case of SEM-EDS), suggesting important new techniques for Near Eastern obsidian provenance studies.     

EDXRF对故宫博物院藏宋代官窑瓷器的无损分析

目前对宋代官窑瓷器的科技研究成果主要是在测试南宋老虎洞窑、郊坛下官窑等窑址瓷片基础上取得的,尚缺乏对宋代官窑完整器的科技分析和研究。本文采用荧光能谱仪(EDXRF)在无损情况下对故宫博物院藏35件宋代官窑瓷器青釉的化学组成进行了测试,并结合文献资料,系统地研究了宋代官窑瓷器青釉成分的组成特点及规律,为进一步揭示宋代官窑特征、深入探讨北宋官窑是否存在的问题、研究明清仿官窑以及区分宋官与仿官等问题奠定了基础。     

紫外荧光成像技术在馆藏壁画保护研究中的应用

应用光学成像技术对文物进行科学诊断与分析,是一种非接触的、非破坏性的、直观和快速的方法。本文介绍在馆藏壁画修复材料、修复痕迹及修复评估方面,通过利用紫外荧光成像技术的实验研究,实现了对馆藏壁画修复加固材料、修复痕迹的鉴别和诊断,对馆藏壁画加固、清洗效果的有效评估,此技术在对壁画进一步保护修复中发挥重要作用。     

Towards an early warning system for oxidative degradation of protein fibres in historical tapestries by means of calibrated amino acid analysis

Flemish 15–17th century tapestries are among the most precious testimonies of European cultural heritage. Even in their deteriorated condition, they are still highly valued and exhibited in many museums all over the world. The present state of degradation evidenced by visual assessment in conservation practice, and confirmed with macro-scaled tensile strength tests, reveals the vulnerability of the wool and silk fibres to light exposure.     

Optical spectroscopy as a rapid and low-cost tool for the first-line analysis of glass artefacts: a step-by-step plan for Roman green glass

Archaeometric research on glass artefacts is continuously evolving and is converging towards a multidisciplinary research domain where different types of techniques are applied depending on the questions asked and the circumstances involved. The technique described in this work is optical spectroscopy. The benefit of this technique being the possibility of building up a knowledge database for a large amount of material in a relatively short period of time and with a relatively limited budget. This is of particular interest for the investigation of extensive and/or unexplored glass collections where a first-line analysis of artefacts could facilitate the selection of material needing further and more detailed examination.     

古陶瓷完整器元素成分无损分析的实现（二）——设备改建和定量分析方法

为了真正实现古陶瓷完整器的元素成分无损分析,就要建造能容纳常规大小古陶瓷样品的真空靶室,以及建立弯曲表面古陶瓷的定量分析方法。本文报道了本实验室QuanX型能谱仪真空靶室改造的整体设计和加工,以及针对弯曲表面古陶瓷样品定量分析的处理方法。大量的测量工作表明所改装的能谱仪完全适应古陶瓷完整器的元素成分无损分析的需要,同时证明古陶瓷样品在较低真空条件下的测量分析是完全无损的;所提出表面弯曲古陶瓷的定量分析处理方法具有简便易行,精确度较高的特点。     

一种古籍修复用纸伸缩性检测方法的探讨

补纸选配是古籍修复中的重要环节,但其伸缩性尚未引起足够重视。古籍修复补纸均为传统手工抄制,浸水后强度较低。按现行国家标准浸湿法检测补纸伸缩性时易产生撕裂、变形等问题,适用性较差。本研究探讨了一种古籍修复补纸的伸缩性检测方法——喷润法。利用水分检测仪对补纸相对含水量进行测定,从测量时间和可操作性的角度验证了该方法的可行性。通过十余种常用补纸的伸缩性检测结果发现,喷润法与浸湿法所得结果具有较好的一致性。随后探讨了古籍书叶伸缩性检测的适用性,并结合具体案例,建议在修复前分析古籍书叶与补纸的伸缩性匹配度。喷润法有效避免了补纸浸湿后的拉伸变形或破裂,既适用于古籍修复补纸,也适用于古籍书叶的无损检测,可为古籍修复策略的制定提供科学依据和参考。     

Marine electrical resistivity tomography for shipwreck detection in very shallow water: a case study from Agropoli (Salerno,southern Italy)

A marine electric resistivity survey was carried out over a submerged beach along the Agropoli shore (Salerno, Italy) to detect buried objects of archaeological interest below the sandy seabed. We found a shipwreck, a military vessel that probably sunk during the Salerno landing operations of the allied forces in the Second World War. Resistivity data provide information on the vertical and horizontal extension of the shipwreck, which is characterized by very low calculated resistivity values (about 2–5 ohm m). Such values differ significantly from the sand and the bedrock values (5–40 ohm m). Although the presence of the shipwreck is clearly visible from geoelectric data, the joint application of electric, magnetic and multibeam bathymetric techniques reduces the ambiguities inherent in each method. As shown in the Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and confirmed by the Digital Elevation Model (obtained from the processing of bathymetric data), the shipwreck extends more than 30 m in NE–SW direction and it is about 13 m wide. The global extension of the relic is consistent with the magnetic data, that are characterized by a magnetic anomaly with an amplitude of about 1800 nT and similar dimension, as inferred from the estimation of source boundaries obtained from the computation of the analytic signal. The results of our survey encourage the use of marine geoelectrical methods for the detection of buried archaeological targets, particularly in locations where the use of seismic prospecting is not effective (e.g. very shallow water with sandy sea-bottoms). The integration of different geophysical methods allows to better define the extension, depth and thickness of buried objects, suggesting that such an approach is the most effective for underwater archaeological investigations.     

上海元代水闸遗址出土木构件无损冻干初探

传统的冷冻脱水过程通常需要将电阻温度传感器(RTD)插入到物料中以监测温度变化从而确定干燥终点,这种方式对于处理木质文物来说具有一定的破坏性,无法做到无损或微损。本研究尝试采用无损方式对定型加固剂浸渍液即时浓度进行分析,并对冷冻干燥终点进行预测。采用这种无损技术成功地对志丹苑元代水闸遗址出土的30件木构件进行真空冷冻脱水定型处理,既达到了预期的定型保护效果,又确保了木构件的安全。