X-rays reveal secrets of Roman coins

[Melvadius]

The Guardian is carrying this artticle about a newly developed x-ray technique for identifying coins and presumably other metallic archaeological remains which have been found in a compacted and corroded mass long before the normal conservation methods could be able to separate them out.

 

 

Scientists have used a new x-ray technique to produce spectacular 3D images of Roman coins that were corroded inside pots or blocks of soil.

 

The rotating images built up from thousands of two-dimensional scans are so clear that individual coins can be identified and dated, without a single battered denarius

[guy]

The Guardian is carrying this artticle about a newly developed x-ray technique for identifying coins and presumably other metallic archaeological remains which have been found in a compacted and corroded mass long before the normal conservation methods could be able to separate them out.

 

Wow. It will be interesting to see how this technique will be used to assess future coin hoards.

 

This technique may allow better assessment of the coins of a hoard found in a jar, for example, without disturbing the original order of placement of the coins in the jar. This could show whether the coins were carefully placed at various intervals for votive offerings. The time span of the hoard could be better dated by assessing the levels of placement of attributed coins.

 

Or it might show these coins were haphazardly deposited at a time of an emergency for safe keeping.

 

With time, I

Edited July 10, 2012 by guy