Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:49:25.505Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Characterization of the Chloroform-Based Pretreatment Method for 14C Dating of Restored Wooden Samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2016

Lucia Liccioli*
Affiliation:
INFN Sezione di Firenze, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy Dipartimento di Chimica Ugo Schiff, University of Florence, via della Lastruccia 3-13, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy
Mariaelena Fedi
Affiliation:
INFN Sezione di Firenze, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy
Luca Carraresi
Affiliation:
INFN Sezione di Firenze, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, University of Florence, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy
Pier Andrea Mandò
Affiliation:
INFN Sezione di Firenze, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, University of Florence, via Sansone 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), Italy
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].

Abstract

At INFN-LABEC (Florence, Italy), a new pretreatment for radiocarbon dating based on chloroform has been recently set up. This method aims to remove the synthetic resins used for artwork restoration, which otherwise could alter the original 14C content. The present study characterizes the efficiency of the process when applied to wood. We have verified whether the effectiveness of the pretreatment depends on the number of extractions in chloroform. We prepared samples by applying different volumes of Paraloid B-72®, one of the most widespread products used in restoration, on poplar wood of known age. Contaminated samples were artificially aged in a climatic chamber. A fraction from each sample was collected before any treatment and after respectively 1, 2, 3, and 4 extractions in chloroform, and 14C dating by AMS, the resin appears to be already removed after the first two extractions. Furthermore, the extracted mixtures of chloroform and possible removed Paraloid were measured by FTIR spectroscopy, the results of which confirmed the 14C results. The efficiency of the pretreatment was also verified on historical wooden materials that had been previously restored. In these cases, a higher number of extractions is required, suggesting a careful approach when dealing with “real” artworks.

Type
Chemical Pretreatment Approaches
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015

References

REFERENCES

Bruhn, F, Duhr, A, Grootes, PM, Mintrop, A, Nadeau, M-J. 2001. Chemical removal of conservation substances by ‘Soxhlet’-type extraction. Radiocarbon 43(2A):229237.Google Scholar
Capano, M, Marzaioli, F, Passariello, I, Pignatelli, O, Martinelli, N, Gigli, S, Gennarelli, I, De Cesare, N, Terrasi, F. 2012. Preliminary radiocarbon analyses of contemporaneous and archaeological wood from the Ansanto Valley (southern Italy). Radiocarbon 54(3–4):701714.Google Scholar
Cappitelli, F, Zanardini, E, Sorlini, C. 2004. The biodeterioration of synthetic resins used in conservation. Macromolecular Bioscience 4:399406.Google Scholar
Chiantore, O, Lazzari, M. 2001. Photo-oxidative stability of Paraloid acrylic protective polymers. Polymer 42(1):1727.Google Scholar
Crisci, GM, La Russa, MF, Malagodi, M, Ruffolo, SA. 2010. Consolidating properties of Regalrez 1126 and Paraloid B72 applied to wood. Journal of Cultural Heritage 11(3):304308.Google Scholar
Derrik, MR, Stulik, D, Landry, JM. 1999. Infrared Spectroscopy in Conservation Science. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute.Google Scholar
Fedi, ME, Cartocci, A, Manetti, M, Taccetti, F, Mandò, PA. 2007. The 14C AMS facility at LABEC, Florence. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 259(1):1822.Google Scholar
Fedi, ME, Bernardoni, V, Caforio, L, Calzolai, G, Carraresi, L, Manetti, M, Taccetti, F, Mandò, PA. 2013. Status of sample combustion and graphitization lines at INFN-LABEC, Florence. Radiocarbon 55(2):657664.Google Scholar
Fedi, ME, Caforio, L, Liccioli, L, Mandò, PA, Salvini, A, Taccetti, F. 2014. A simple and effective removal procedure of synthetic resins to obtain accurate radiocarbon dates of restored artworks. Radiocarbon 56(3):969979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horie, V. 2010. Materials for Conservation: Organic Consolidants, Adhesives and Coatings. Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Koob, SP. 1986. The use of Paraloid B-72 as an adhesive: its application for archaeological ceramics and other materials. Studies in Conservation 31(1):714.Google Scholar
Traoré, M, Kaalb, J, Martínez Cortizas, A. 2016. Application of FTIR spectroscopy to the characterization of archaeological wood. Spectrochimica Acta A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 153(1):6370.Google Scholar