ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION OF PIGMENTS, GROUND LAYER AND MEDIA OF CARTONNAGE FRAGMENTS FROM GREEK ROMAN PERIOD

Abstract

Some cartonnage fragments from Hawara, Fayoum Excavation were examined to identify pig‐ments, media and grounds. It belonged to the Greek‐Roman period. They were studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Energy dispersive X ray analysis (EDS) equipped with Scanning electron micros‐copy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). These techniques were used to identify the composition and morphology of grounds, nature of pigments and media used in car‐tonnage fragments. The coarse ground layer was composed of calcite and traces of quartz. The fine ground layer used under the pigments directly was composed of calcite only. Carbon black was used as black pigment while lead oxide as red pigment, showing the influence of Roman and Greek pigments on Egyptian art in these later periods. Blue colorant was identified as cuprorivaite and yellow pigment was goethite. Animal glue was used in the four pigments as medium colored