SĂPĂTURI ARHEOLOGICE LA CATEDRALA ROMANO-CATOLICĂ "ADORMIREA MAICII DOMNULUI" IAŞI: STUDII ANALITICE ALE ARTEFACTELOR DIN METAL ŞI TEXTILE

Archaeological excavations at the Roman-Catholic „Assumption of the Virgin Mary” 

Cathedral Iasi: analytical studies of metal and textile artefacts

Summary. Heterogeneity, complexity, diversity, rarity are keywords that characterize heritage 

objects. Both for their exhaustive characterization and for the adoption of optimal conservation-restoration solutions, in order to stop the degradative processes and to ensure the stabilization, from 

the physico-chemical and physico-mechanical points of view, of the artifacts, it was necessary to implement some analytical strategies specific to the constituent materials to provide information regarding the morphology, composition, structure, types of degradation present. Following the analyzes 

carried out by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for the metal parts, the following were identified: 

gold-silver-copper alloy (ring with stones, cross with stones, cross ornament fragment), gilded silver-copper alloy (ring, rosette), silver (coin), brass (studs) and brass with traces of silvering (studs).

Through Raman spectrometry, the nature of the precious and semi-precious stones in some 

metal artifacts was established: sapphire and diamonds, for the ring with stones, topaz, for the cross 

ornament fragment and topaz, tourmaline, crysoprase crystal, glass, for the cross with stones.

In the textile fragments with metal thread, the following were identified by X-ray fluorescence 

spectrometry (XRF) analysis: silver and gilded silver.