A physical chemical contribution to the knowledge of ancient statuary: Investigations on some metallic objects from the Capitoline Museums, Rome

Object of an archaeometallurgical study was a series of ancient metal findi ngs, parts of great statuary, coming from a hoard of "Vicolo delle Palme" i n Rome excavated in 1849 and at present conserved in the Capitoline Museums of Rome. in the present work, we present and discuss the results obtained in studying three of these objects: a foot, a part of a bull and a doe head . The experimental techniques used were: optical microscopy, electron micro scopy with EDAX, microhardness measurements and X-ray powder diffraction, w ith the purpose of investigate the manufacturing of the objects, and, possi bly, give some indications about their dating and provenance. In this study we examined, for each artefact, several microdraws and the po wders obtained by using an original microdestructive method of sampling. We were able to individuate a probable Greek origin for one of the statues (t o which the foot belonged), while the remaining two date, most probably, to the roman age. For the three metal objects, we could ascertain the manufac ture techniques, too.