• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.26
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• pp.67-82
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• 2021

Two golden beads (Buyeo 5336) housed at the Buyeo National Museum were discovered in 1993 near the site of an ancient workshop in Neungsan-ri in Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do Province. These rare examples from the Baekje Kingdom of an application of granulation have maintained their original form intact, and thus serve as important materials for the investigation of production techniques applied. This study analyzed the composition of the golden beads using a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer, a stereo microscope, and a scanning electron microscope with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. The manufacturing technique was examined through the observation of the micro-shape and the surface condition and by a composition analysis of the joint part. In both beads, a hole was pierced in a hollow body and the bead was decorated with golden wires around the hole and gold granules in other parts. In some areas, golden granules had been attached to the gold plate and golden wires were then placed over the granules. The purity of both the wires and the granules was analyzed as 23.6 - 23.7K. A high copper content was detected in some of the parts where the granules were attached. The findings of a previous reproduction experiment and study of production methods suggest that the beads were made using the copper diffusion technique.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.210-223
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• 2014

When sarira reliquary was found in stone pagoda of Mireuksa Temple, there were 494 gold artifacts, including inner gold pot, gold plate with inscription for Sarira enshrinement, etc. Most of gold artifacts were crafted, but there were 22 gold plates and 4 gold ingots, which did not have any specific shape. It was considered that they had not been crafted. Since gold exists as a metal rather than a metallic oxide in nature, in general, it can be crafted by melting and shaping. However, gold in nature has impurities so it has to be refined to have malleability. The characteristic features were identified through the analysis of gold artifacts from sarira reliquary found in stone pagoda of Mireuksa Temple. The analysis result showed that there were 3 types of gold; pure gold artifacts, artifacts produced with silver containing gold and natural gold ingots. Inner gold pot, gold earrings and gold small beads were produced with pure gold and they contained less than 1wt.% of copper. It seemed like they were produced as pure gold to be shaped by hammering. Gold plate with inscription, tweezers, gold earrings, ingots, etc. were produced with silver containing gold as they had to be more solid. Gold ingots seemed to be natural gold considering the distribution of silver and copper in them, but it cannot be concluded as there are not enough information on gold ingots in Korea. The comprehensive research on gold ingots from various regions in Korea has to be carried out to confirm the above. Sarira Reliquary showed the very sophisticated gold craftsmanship. Gold ingots with the inscriptions, which say 1 nyang, were approximately 14g. Considering the weight of these ingots as standard, weights of other ingots were half nyang(7g), 2 nyang(28g), etc.