Characterization of a buried archaeological bronze from the Celtic tomb n°1002 of La Fosse Cotheret (Roissy-en-France) (original) (raw)

A Celtic cemetery (IVth-IIIrd century BC), recently excavated during the construction of the fourth airstrip at Roissy airport in France, has revealed two tombs with chariots and numerous bronze masterpieces. The aim of this study is to present the first results of the scientific investigation performed on one of these bronzes, well representative of the totality of the objects. Non-destructive characterizations were performed mainly by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and by energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) conducted in situ in the SE microscope chamber. The conservation state of the bronze is defined and information regarding the original surface state is discussed. The endogenous (corrosion products) and exogenous elements resulting of the alteration processes of the object are described and discussed in relationship to the evolution of the archaeological context with time.