Multi-instrumental identification of orpiment in archaeological mortuary contexts

Juan Pablo Ogalde; Cristian O. Salas; Nelson Lara; Patricio Leyton; Carolina Paipa; Marcelo Campos-Vallette; Bernardo Arriaza

doi:10.4067/S0717-97072014000300010

Multi-instrumental identification of orpiment in archaeological mortuary contexts

Juan Pablo Ogalde, Cristian O. Salas, Nelson Lara, Patricio Leyton, Carolina Paipa, Marcelo Campos-Vallette, Bernardo Arriaza

INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper reports on an unknown yellowish mineral compound found in an archaeological context from Chorrillos cemetery (Calama, Chile) dating to the Early Formative period (800-200 B.C.). We used optic microscopy, SEM, EDX¹H-RMN¹³C-RMN, and infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy to tease out the chemical and molecular composition of the sample. The microscopic images show amorphous yellowish granulates with heterogeneous chemical surfaces.¹H-RMN and¹³C-RMN negative results show that the sample is free of organic matter. The SEM and EDX indicate the presence of arsenic and sulfur in the sample. The IR and Raman analyses suggest the presence of orpiment which is a toxic yellow arsenic sulfde mineral.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2571-2573
Number of pages	3
Journal	Journal of the Chilean Chemical Society
Volume	59
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-97072014000300010
State	Published - 1 Sep 2014

Keywords

Chorrillos
Northern Chile
Pigments
Raman spectroscopy
SEM-EDX

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10.4067/S0717-97072014000300010

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title = "Multi-instrumental identification of orpiment in archaeological mortuary contexts",

abstract = "This paper reports on an unknown yellowish mineral compound found in an archaeological context from Chorrillos cemetery (Calama, Chile) dating to the Early Formative period (800-200 B.C.). We used optic microscopy, SEM, EDX1H-RMN13C-RMN, and infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy to tease out the chemical and molecular composition of the sample. The microscopic images show amorphous yellowish granulates with heterogeneous chemical surfaces.1H-RMN and13C-RMN negative results show that the sample is free of organic matter. The SEM and EDX indicate the presence of arsenic and sulfur in the sample. The IR and Raman analyses suggest the presence of orpiment which is a toxic yellow arsenic sulfde mineral.",

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author = "Ogalde, {Juan Pablo} and Salas, {Cristian O.} and Nelson Lara and Patricio Leyton and Carolina Paipa and Marcelo Campos-Vallette and Bernardo Arriaza",

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T1 - Multi-instrumental identification of orpiment in archaeological mortuary contexts

AU - Ogalde, Juan Pablo

AU - Salas, Cristian O.

AU - Lara, Nelson

AU - Leyton, Patricio

AU - Paipa, Carolina

AU - Campos-Vallette, Marcelo

AU - Arriaza, Bernardo

PY - 2014/9/1

Y1 - 2014/9/1

N2 - This paper reports on an unknown yellowish mineral compound found in an archaeological context from Chorrillos cemetery (Calama, Chile) dating to the Early Formative period (800-200 B.C.). We used optic microscopy, SEM, EDX1H-RMN13C-RMN, and infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy to tease out the chemical and molecular composition of the sample. The microscopic images show amorphous yellowish granulates with heterogeneous chemical surfaces.1H-RMN and13C-RMN negative results show that the sample is free of organic matter. The SEM and EDX indicate the presence of arsenic and sulfur in the sample. The IR and Raman analyses suggest the presence of orpiment which is a toxic yellow arsenic sulfde mineral.

AB - This paper reports on an unknown yellowish mineral compound found in an archaeological context from Chorrillos cemetery (Calama, Chile) dating to the Early Formative period (800-200 B.C.). We used optic microscopy, SEM, EDX1H-RMN13C-RMN, and infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy to tease out the chemical and molecular composition of the sample. The microscopic images show amorphous yellowish granulates with heterogeneous chemical surfaces.1H-RMN and13C-RMN negative results show that the sample is free of organic matter. The SEM and EDX indicate the presence of arsenic and sulfur in the sample. The IR and Raman analyses suggest the presence of orpiment which is a toxic yellow arsenic sulfde mineral.

KW - Chorrillos

KW - Northern Chile

KW - Pigments

KW - Raman spectroscopy

KW - SEM-EDX

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EP - 2573

JO - Journal of the Chilean Chemical Society

JF - Journal of the Chilean Chemical Society

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ER -

Multi-instrumental identification of orpiment in archaeological mortuary contexts

Abstract

Keywords

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