COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PROPERTIES OF ʺACCELERATED‐AGEDʺ BONES AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL BONES

Abstract

This study focuses on the changes in the properties of bones that resulted from ʺheat‐ageingʺ at different temperatures and long term of exposure compared to archaeological samples. It also aims to prepare aged samples similar to archaeological samples for the experimental studies in the conservation of bone artifacts. FTIR, XRD, UV spectrophotometry, dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry, polarizing and SEM microscopes were used as analytical techniques. The results revealed that  ʺheat ageingʺ technique used at different temperatures (200oC and 300OC) and times (from 1 hour to 13 hours) affected the properties of change in colour, loss of bone density, destruction of the surface morphology, increasing the crystallinity index which, was similar with the archaeological sample after 8 and 12 hours of exposure. The study concluded that ʺheat ageingʺ at 300°C after 8 hours can give properties close or similar to archaeological samples.