37274
Accession Number
4752
Title Of Article Chaper
The chemical identification of baltic amber at the celtic oppidum stare hradisko in moravia
Title Of Journal Book
Journal of archaeological science
Volume
5
Issue
4
Pages
343-354
Collation
3 figs.
Language Of Text
English
Literature Type
Serial
Literature Level
Analytic
Abstract
The Celtic oppidum Staré Hradisko north of Brno in Moravia, CSSR, has long been noted for its wealth of archaeological amber artifacts. Since there are several substantial deposits of fossil resins in the immediate vicinity of the site, it has been an open question whether the settlement was a centre of exploitation and exportation of these local raw materials, or whether it was an entrepôt of Baltic amber on its way to southern and southeastern Europe. Because of extensive weathering, many of the amber finds at Staré Hradisko cannot be identified by infra-red spectroscopy. A new analytical method, which determines the amount of succinic acid by means of gas chromatography, has been developed to show that the amber of Staré Hradisko is, in fact, of the Baltic variety called succinite.
Keywords
Amber, analysis; Amber, history; Chromatography, vapour phase ICCROM
pub_id
37274