World of Scientific Art Identification
Up to now, there are about 10 scientific art identification methods used around the world. The authenticity of cultural relics and works of art, such as paintings, calligraphy, jade, and ceramics, can be determined by scientifically detecting fairly accurate components.
These scientific identification methods can be broadly summarized into two types: 'relative dating identification methods' and 'absolute dating identification methods'.
1. Relative dating identification method
i) Structural analysis technology
These include thermal analysis technology, transmission analysis, electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and digital photo analysis.
ii) Composition analysis technology
These include atomic absorption and atomic emission spectroscopy, optical fluorescence analysis, ion beam analysis, mass spectrometry and chromatography, isotope analysis, and neutron activation analysis.
2. Absolute dating identification method
Carbon dating, thermoluminescence dating, magnetic dating, electron spin resonance dating, isotope dating, potassium hydrogen dating, nuclear fission tracking dating, amino acid racemization dating, and quantum dating identification methods are included.
i) Carbon 14 dating identification technology
This method, which uses a half-life of C14, is widely used in archaeological excavations. By detecting archaeological samples containing carbon, it is possible to determine the C14 content of organisms contained in the excavated cultural artifacts, and compare them with the C14 content in the air to estimate the age. C14 requires the use of a certain amount of carbon samples, and the measurement time is too long, so it is rarely used because it has no effect on our artwork.
ii) Thermoluminescent dating identification techniques
The thermoluminescent body of the material is ionized under the action of light rays, producing trapped electrons and storing part of the energy. When heated to between 100 and 500 degrees Celsius, the trapped electrons move due to thermal shock, storing stored energy. Since the energy accumulated in a sample is directly proportional to the sample's age, dating can be measured using thermoluminescence technology. In other words, ancient works of art continue to absorb and accumulate external radiation energy from the moment they are created.
This dating identification technique typically destroys the integrity of the artwork during the sampling process. In particular, it is difficult to use this method for some valuable cultural assets.
Thermoluminescent dating identification technology has very high requirements for the samples to be assessed, which does not allow repeated assessments of the samples to be assessed, and at the same time, the samples must not be exposed to radioactive substances, not contaminated with X-rays, high temperatures, etc., otherwise the accuracy of the results It falls off.
iii) Projection detection technology
It is mainly used to identify ceramics. Previous studies have shown that glazes formed by high-temperature melting are glassy homogeneous. The internal structure is disordered and metastable in the natural environment. The aging phenomenon of glaze is thought to be that the internal structure is continuously automatically adjusted over time, gradually changing from a disordered metastable state to an ordered stable state. During the natural aging process, the internal stress of the glaze becomes uneven due to the order of the local structure of the glaze, and microcracks occur inside and on the surface of the glaze. And the light scattering properties continue to increase further.
The glaze of ancient porcelain appears softer and warmer than that of new porcelain, and the contrast becomes greater as it ages. In the case of some ancient pottery, this aging phenomenon is particularly noticeable, and various types of microcracks (commonly known as cracks) appear on the glaze surface. Some of these microcracks can be directly observed with the naked eye, while others can only be discovered with the help of modern scientific equipment. The aging phenomenon of glaze is a unique change that has occurred continuously since the birth of ceramics as a result of the adjustment of the internal structure of the material itself. As time passes, the degree of aging continues to deepen and is less affected by the external natural environment. Using physical or chemical aging methods mainly causes slight damage to the glaze surface and has little effect on the internal structure of the glaze.
Modern material structural analysis technology can confirm the degree of structural change in the glaze and infer the age of the glaze. Simply put, the aging coefficient of the glaze continues to develop with age, like the growth rings of a tree. As time passes, the aging coefficient increases, and is affected by external ultraviolet rays, etching, corrosion, and the physical and chemical effects of acidic and alkaline substances. do not receive No matter how old the new imitation is, it cannot change the molecular structure arrangement of the ceramic glaze, so the advantages of the devitrification identification method are obvious, as shown below.
Firstly, it does not cause any damage to the identification object, secondly, it can eliminate the interference of counterfeiters and does not cause misjudgments such as thermoluminescence, and thirdly, compared to thermoluminescence and element identification, it is much simpler and easier to implement. The downside is that it only applies to glazed pottery and cannot be used in other collections.
iv) Rust layer detection technology
It is mainly used for the detection of bronzeware. Due to the long-term corrosion of the environment, the corrosion state of bronzeware is relatively complex, and most of the surfaces are covered with various types of rust products. Corrosion products on the surface of bronze are broadly classified into two types. One is harmless rust, which mainly refers to old spots and leather skin on the surface of bronze, and is characterized by a hard rust layer and a dense rust layer. structure. The other is harmful rust. This type of rust is characterized by a loose structure and a powder-like appearance, so it is commonly called 'powder rust'. Since the formation of a rust layer in the Bronze Age is a gradual process over a long period of time and is closely related to the external environment and has certain regularities, the authenticity of the rust layer in the Bronze Age can be confirmed by introducing a corresponding rust layer analysis method.
Among various measurement methods, X-ray diffraction has the advantages of not damaging the sample, causing no contamination, being fast, having high measurement accuracy, and obtaining a large amount of information about the integrity of the crystal. The advantages of X-ray diffractometers for detecting and analyzing the structure of metals and alloys cannot be achieved by any other method. It has now become a traditional method of metal research and material appraisal. It is used to analyze material properties and the relationship between materials. Measurements of content, ingredient proportions, and subsequent processing procedures at each stage can all play an important role.
In addition to analyzing the composition of corrosion products of metallic cultural properties, X-ray diffraction analyzers can also be used to analyze and test the materials and deformation products of inorganic cultural properties such as murals, ceramics, and stoneware. Through X-ray diffraction analysis, the composition and structural information of cultural assets can be comprehensively identified, allowing scientific analysis to be performed to identify bronzeware and other cultural assets and drawing more accurate age identification conclusions. This is used in conjunction with the existing X. This result provides relatively strong scientific evidence.
v) Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis – EDXRF
Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDXRF) is one of the important elemental composition analysis methods and is a new method that has recently been established. By analyzing the composition of major and trace elements in a work of art and finding characteristic elements in the composition, it is possible to provide research and information on the authenticity of the origin and dating. Through this, the authenticity of the artwork is confirmed and scientific basis is provided through similar identification. This method is an ideal scientific analysis method for studying and identifying ancient art objects, but the disadvantage of this technique is that the inspection agency must have a large database that can be compared with actual specimen data as evidence to determine whether it is a forgery or not. The problem is that deployment limits the breadth of this technology. Therefore, only individual institutions such as national research institutes or national testing agencies must provide relative databases in order for the appraisal to proceed.
The principle is that all works of art, including calligraphy, paintings, ceramics, bronze, and jade, are composed of various elements, which can be divided into major elements and trace elements. The purpose of various elements of a work of art is to determine the degree to which trace elements that are difficult for humans to determine match the composition of the original work and the experimental work. This technology has the characteristics of high precision, wide analysis range, simultaneous analysis of multiple elements, and no damage to the analyzed sample, and is a powerful non-destructive qualitative and quantitative analysis technology. Therefore, it is known as a very suitable method for analyzing and identifying the components of expensive works of art.
Current energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) component analyzers include the X-MET8000.
< XRF component analyzer X-MET8000 >