Tag Archives: copper

The boy’s body was preserved in a copper coffin, taking on a green hue.

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The mummified remains of a boy buried in a copper box between 1617 and 1814

Annamaria Arabiso

An adolescent boy, interred in a copper coffin almost three centuries ago in northern Italy, stands out as the only nearly fully preserved green mummy known to exist.

While other ancient remains have shown partial mummification or green coloration from burial alongside copper or bronze items, a green mummified hand of a newborn clutching a copper coin was discovered in medieval Hungary within pottery vessels.

In contrast, this Italian mummy is largely intact, save for its feet, showcasing an almost entirely green complexion from skin to bone, with the exception of its left leg.

The mummy emerged from the basement of an old villa in Bologna in 1987, where it underwent forensic analysis at the University of Bologna. Experts determined it belonged to a boy aged 12 to 14, and it has been preserved at the university since.

Annamaria Arabiso, a conservation scientist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, took part in the examination alongside a myriad of specialists including geneticists, anthropologists, radiologists, mathematicians, physicists, and computer scientists. “It was an impressive interdisciplinary effort,” she remarks.

The researchers conducted an extensive series of chemical and physical analyses on the mummy. Radiocarbon dating assigned the boy’s death to between 1617 and 1814, with Arabiso noting that the remains exhibited no apparent signs of trauma or disease.

Copper played a crucial role in preserving both hard and soft tissues, owing to its known antimicrobial characteristics, Arabiso states. However, the copper box reacted with acid from the body, leading to corrosion that created copper byproducts interacting with the chemicals in the bone. Gradually, copper ions replaced calcium in the boy’s skeleton, imparting a green hue and simultaneously enhancing the structural integrity of his bones over time.

The skin developed a rough layer of copper corrosion products referred to as patina, a pale green film typical on bronze items. Arabiso explained that this patina formed as a result of copper’s reaction with water and carbon dioxide during decomposition.

“This fundamentally shifts our understanding of heavy metals, revealing a more intricate relationship regarding their effects on conservation than previously assumed,” she states.

Possibly due to acidic interactions, the bottom of the copper box eventually cracked, leading to liquid spillage that left the remains in a cool, arid environment with limited oxygen, which mitigated decomposition. Arabiso suggests the boy may have become disoriented and lost his footing during this process.

“Engaging with these extraordinary human remains was profoundly emotional for me,” she shares.

Julia Gallo, having seen images of mummies for the first time at the Collège de France in Paris, expressed her awe. “Oh, how beautiful!” she exclaims. “This entire case study is utterly captivating.”

Gallo offered praise for the researchers’ efforts in meticulously investigating the physical and chemical processes leading to the mummification and subsequent color changes. “The evidence robustly supports their conclusions regarding both the preservation of tissues and bones and the variations in coloration.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Research finds no evidence of environmental pollution from pre-Roman copper industry in Timna Valley

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Scientists from Tel Aviv University conducted geochemical surveys at two smelting camps dating back to the 10th century BC, the time of the Biblical kings David and Solomon. Timna Valley It is located in southern Israel, in the southern Arabah. They found that environmental pollution resulting from copper production is minimal, spatially limited, and poses no danger to residents of the area, past or present.

Aerial view of Site 201, north of the center of the Timna Valley on the western outskirts of Wadi Araba, Israel. Image credit: Yagel others., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80939-5.

“We toured two major copper production sites in the Timna Valley: one from the Iron Age; King Solomon's time Professor Erez Ben Yosef of Tel Aviv University said:

“Our research was very extensive. We took hundreds of soil samples from both locations for chemical analysis and created high-resolution maps of the presence of heavy metals in the area.”

“We found that contamination levels at the Timna copper mining site were very low and confined to the site of an ancient smelting furnace.”

“For example, the concentration of lead, a major pollutant in the metal industry, drops to less than 200 ppm just a few meters away from the furnace.”

“By comparison, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines industrial areas as safe for workers at 1,200 ppm and residential areas as safe for children at 200 ppm.”

The new study contradicts a series of papers published since the 1990s about pollution allegedly caused by the ancient copper industry.

“We are proving that this is not true,” Professor Ben Yosef said.

“Timna's contamination is very spatially localized, with the only people probably working directly at the furnaces suffering from inhalation of toxic gases, and just a short distance away, the soil is completely destroyed. It’s safe.”

“Furthermore, the agreement in the spatial distribution of copper and lead concentrations in the soil that we found indicates that the metal is ‘locked up’ in slag and other industrial wastes, so that the metal can leach into the soil. It has no effect on plants or humans.”

“Our findings are consistent with several recent studies conducted in the Wadi Faynan region of Jordan, which also show very low levels of pollution.”

“Timna and Feynan are ideal locations for this kind of research because they are undisturbed by modern mining, as happened for example in Cyprus, and thanks to their dry climate metals in the soil are not washed away. .”

“In Feynan, scientists from Hebrew University examined the skeletons of 36 people who lived at the mining site during the Iron Age and found that only three had evidence of contamination in their teeth. The rest It was completely beautiful. We are now presenting a similar picture for Timna.”

In addition to the geochemical study, the authors also reviewed existing literature and found that the hypothesis of global pollution before Roman times lacked solid evidence.

“In the 1990s, there was a tendency to attribute ancient copper production to the first example of industrial pollution,” said Dr. Omri Jagel of Tel Aviv University.

“Such statements make headlines and attract research funding, but they unnecessarily project contemporary pollution problems into the past.”

“Furthermore, research literature tends to use the term 'contamination' to describe traces of ancient metallurgical activity, leading to the erroneous assumption that the metal industry was harmful to humanity from its earliest days. They are connected, but this is clearly false.”

“Even when metal production became large-scale and essential to human civilization, it was the toxic lead industry that caused global pollution, not necessarily other metals.”

“Studies in the 1990s argued that trace amounts of copper found in Greenland ice cores migrated through the atmosphere from places like Timna.”

“However, this claim has not been supported by subsequent research.”

“As researchers facing today's tough environmental challenges, such as climate change, we often look for similar problems in the past or think that environmental degradation is an inevitable consequence of human activity since the agricultural revolution. There is a tendency to

“But we have to be careful. We might call some slag falling on the ground 'pollution', but we can't treat this local waste as regional or global environmental pollution.” should not be confused with. ”

Regarding this research, paper Published in a magazine on November 29th scientific report.

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O. Jagel others. 2024. The pre-Roman copper industry had no polluting impact on the global environment. science officer 14, 29675; doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-80939-5

Source: www.sci.news

Archaeologists unearth ancient 4,000-year-old copper dagger in Italy

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Archaeologists have unearthed a rare dagger dating back to the Copper Age in the Tina Giama cave in Trieste, a decentralized region in Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.

A 4,000-year-old copper dagger discovered in Italy’s Tina Giama Cave. Image credit: Davide Bonaduce.

ancient copper dagger Tina Jama Cave It is just under 10 centimeters (4 inches) long and has a spiny leaf shape.

The artifacts were discovered by Professor Federico Bernardini, head of excavations and archaeologist at Venice’s Ca’ Foscari University, and colleagues from Italy and Slovenia.

“Although there are no exact parallels for such finds in Italy, the Tina Jama dagger can be compared with a similar find from the famous Dejman/Deshman pile-dwelling site near Ljubljana, Slovenia. ” said Professor Bernardini.

“During the Tina Jama excavations, we discovered Bronze Age and Final Chalcolithic strata dating back to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC,” added archaeologist Dr. Elena Regissa of the Archaeological Institute of the Slovenian Academy Research Center. Slovensk University of Sciences and Umetnost.

“This discovery is essential for understanding the technological, cultural and social transformation of Europe at the time.”

“The excavations will increase our understanding of various cultural aspects of the third millennium BC in the Caputo-Adriae region.”

“The discovery of the copper dagger is an unusual event that calls into question the use of the cave.”

Archaeologists also discovered a structure made of slabs and stone blocks built between 2000 BC and 1500 BC at the entrance to the cave.

“The purpose of this structure remains unclear, but human skull fragments found nearby suggest that it may have had a funerary function,” the researchers said.

“Or maybe it was built to protect the inside of the cave from storms.”

“The ceramic materials recovered at the site and the presence of a hearth indicate that, before this structure was built, this cave was frequented in the late 3rd millennium by a group whose material culture was closely connected to the Dalmatian region. BC (Cetina culture). ”

Researchers also found flint arrowheads, long blades made from the same material using pressure techniques, polished stone axes, obsidian, stone and ceramic objects, and shell ornaments.

“This evidence suggests that this cave has been visited for thousands of years and holds promise for future excavation efforts,” the researchers concluded.

Source: www.sci.news