Combined diffraction and refraction imaging study of a roman knife

Contemporary physics has developed various techniques applicable to solving difficult tasks in archaeometry. X-ray spectroscopic, fluorescence and diffraction methods are of particular importance, due, in particular to fast development of synchrotron-based techniques including various X-ray micro techniques. A small part of a Roman iron knife, excavated, together with many other ancient objects, about year 1905 at an (inexistent now) archaeological site in Sierzchow (Lowicz district, central Poland) was an object of the present study. The study was performed at HASYLAB beamline G3. A wide-range diffraction scan revealed a complex diffraction picture showing that one of components in this Fe-rich sample is likely to be hematite. It is accompanied by a small fraction of quartz attached because of the thousands-year contact with soil. Identification of other phases, presumably Fe-containing oxides, requires further work. Further work is required to identify the phases connected to the diffraction effects observed. The methods applied seem to be promising, in particular, for investigation of partially or fully corroded archaeological objects