• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.21
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• pp.53-66
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• 2019

This study describes the processes undertaken for the conservation treatment of metal artifacts excavated in Hasong-ri, Yeongwol, Gangwon-do and the results of the related surface composition analysis. X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) was applied to analyze the surface composition of a small gilt-bronze wind chime, two clappers, and a small gourd-shaped bronze bottle. The gourd-shaped bronze bottle was investigated using radiography to examine its internal structure. The wind chime and clappers were excavated from the same location. A gilt layer was identified on the wind chime, but surface corrosion made it difficult to identify any such layers on the clappers. The element analysis revealed that the wind chime was made of bronze in a Cu-Sn-Pb ternary system and was gilt-plated using mercury amalgam. The clappers were made from copper with a small amount of gold detected, but did not show any evidence of mercury. Since a thick corrosion layer was affixed to the surface of each clapper, it was impossible to identify the surface composition and determine if the clappers had been gilded. It is possible that the gold detected from the clappers was a foreign substance or had detached from the giltbronze wind chime buried alongside them. The small gourd-shaped bronze bottle was investigated through surface element analysis and radiography to verify if it was a type of silver bottle used as currency during the Goryeo dynasty. The radiography photography identified that a small hole in the middle of the base had been stopped up. The general surface analysis did not detect silver, which suggests that the bottle was made of bronze instead and was not one of the silver bottles used as a means of currency.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.22
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• pp.1-14
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• 2019

The excavation of the south mound of Hwangnamdaechong Tomb in Gyeongju has yielded diverse types of shell artifacts. Among the them, this paper investigated fragments of shell ornaments with gilt-bronze frames, the use of which has not been identified. It was revealed that the artifacts are in fact nautilus cups, which had never been found previously in excavations in Korea. A nautilus is a species marine mollusk known to be the closest to prehistoric ammonites. It has brown stripes on the surface of the shell and septa inside, and a siphuncle penetrating to the center of the septa. It is known that nautilus cups were made and used in China, but only three examples have thus far been identified. These surviving cups have metal ornaments and are dated to the Western and Eastern Jin periods of China. No nautilus cups have been found in Japan, and the shell ornaments investigated in this study were determined to be the first nautilus cups ever found in Korea. Nautilus cups are mentioned in ancient documents and literature, including in poems by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai and in Joseon-period documents. This paper presents the biological characteristics of nautili, cases of excavation of nautilus cups outside Korea, and findings from the basic research of the nautilus cup from Hwangnamdaechong Tomb.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.22
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• pp.87-98
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• 2008

Microstructures and chemical compositions of 24 bronze mirrors recovered from the Korean peninsula were examined using the scanning electron microscope equipped with the energy dispersive spectrometer in an effort to characterize the treatments applied on their surface. Their provenance and chronology are mostly unspecified except for two objects from a Koryo burial site. In antiquity the surface of bronze mirrors was frequently finished by mere polishing when their tin content was high enough to guarantee the required reflectivity. In many cases, however, their surface was given a special treatment. The most typical treatment was to coat the surface with tin in two different processes referred to as wipe-tinning and amalgam-tinning. In wipe-tinning only tin was used, but in amalgam-tinning tin and mercury were used together. The surface was often coated with mercury in a process known as mercury-polishing. The present mirrors showed that all these techniques were in fact practiced, not only on the reflective surface but, in some cases, on the decorative surface. The detection of mercury played a crucial role in the assessment of a specific technique applied in each mirror. Mercury often remained in the substrate in the form of sulfide and thereby allowed the method of surface treatment to be estimated even when the coated layer was completely lost. The future study is expected to uncover the regional and temporal variation of the surface treatments to the better understanding of bronze mirrors with respect to provenance and chronology.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.417-427
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• 2010

This study is to examine the manufacturing technique based on scientific investigation and analysis on Steel-Plated Jewel Beetle's Adornment gilt-bronze openwork remains excavated from No. 100 site at Hwango-dong Gyeongju. As a result of the investigation on the manufacturing revealed that riveting was adopted to connect gilt-bronze openwork plates and steel plates, followed by mercury amalgam plating method and carving of the patterns by means of the dotted line engraving technique. There were some traces on the surface of Jewel Beetle wings that show the use of pins for fixing, which seems to be the result of recycling or processing. The sectional analysis shows the high possibilities that varnishing with lacquer was adopted for wing adhesion, and it was confirmed that varnishing with lacquer was used on the strap pendant plate to prevent corrosion.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.12
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• pp.35-45
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• 2011

To keep relics excavated in the era of the Japanese Colonist's rule in the Korean Peninsula in order, the National Museum of Korea selected some of horse strap pendants (Haengyeob) that were excavated from Seobongchong, Sikrichong and Geumryeongchong, and it investigated conservation and production technique. The horse strap pendants selected were classified into three, that is to say, Oval and fish-tail shape, heart shape and atypical: At the results of microscopic observation, XRF and SEM-EDS analysis, base plate was made of iron, and top plate as well as pattern plate was made of iron, copper and silver. Both Oval and fish-tail shape and heart shape horse strap pendants had horse strap pendants having same production technique and sizes at all of three ancient tombs were made of iron and copper. The gold layer of horse strap pendants except the atypical one having no gold layer were made by amalgam gilding.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.1 no.1 s.1
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• pp.60-79
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• 1992

In relation to the scientific conservation treatment of ancient gilt bronze, the gold film coated on the bronze excavated from Hwangnam Great Tomb of Old Silla Kingdom(A. D. 5C) was studied in the view of coating technology and metallurgy of bronze. The uniform and dense gold film containing $2.44\sim12.40%$ of Hg with the thickness of $5.99\sim12.97{\mu}m$ was found to be coated on the bronze objects by amalgam coating method. On silver objects, the film with the thickness of $19.96{\mu}m$ was coated also continously and uniformly with gold by the same method. The bronze objects was fabricated by forging technique and contained almost $4.7\sim11.5%$ of Pb. Its microstructure was $\alpha-phase$ solid solution including Pb segregation in the matrix. The amount of $0.4\sim2.0%$ Zn was added in the bronze for the purpose of easy fabricating of Cu alloy. Based on the data studied, the gold film on bronze sample was reproduced by amalgam coating method and compared with the ancient gold film.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.26
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• pp.143-160
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• 2021

The Seoul Baekje Museum has been conducting excavations at the Ancient Tomb Complex in Seokchon-dong, Seoul (Historic Site No. 243), known to be tombs of the royal family and the ruling class during the Hanseong period of the Baekje Kingdom. In this study, gold earrings that were revealed during the excavation underwent scientific analysis and conservation treatment. Stereo microscopy, SEM, X-ray imaging, CT, and XRF were applied in the analysis, and the characteristics, internal structure, and composition of the earrings as well as their production method were investigated. The results confirmed that the main hoops of the gilt-bronze earrings were made of copper cores gilt using mercury amalgamation. The findings also revealed that the hexahedron in the middle pendant was made by connecting small rings using molten gold powder, and the pendant sphere at the end was formed by soldering two hemispheres. As for the two thin-hoop earrings, they showed similar surface compositions but were made using different methods, with one made from a copper core wrapped with a gold plate and the other made by bending a gold rod. The gold content varied depending on the item and the place of measurement, but overall the earrings showed a relatively high gold content of approximately 19 to 21K. The purity of the golden earrings and the sophisticated manufacturing techniques applied indicate the high status of the buried person and of the tomb complex in Seokchong-dong.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.39
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• pp.243-280
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• 2006

At the Bujang-ri Site, Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, around 220 archaeological features, including semi-subterranean houses and pits of Bronze Age and semi-subterranean houses, pits, and burials of Baekje period had been identified and investigated. In Particular, mound burials No. 5 of 13 of Baekje mound burials yielding a gilt-bronze cap along with other valuable artifacts drew international scholarly attention. The gilt-bronze cap from the mound burial No. 5 is a significant archaeological data not only in the study of Baekje archaeology but also in the study of international affairs and exchange at that time. At the time of exposure, the gilt-bronze cap was already broken into a number of pieces and seriously damaged by corrosion, and hardening and urethane foam were necessary in the process of collecting its pieces. Ahead of main conservational treatments on cap, X-ray photograph and CT(computerizes tomography) were taken in order to examine interior structure of the cap and to decide appropriate treatments. In the five layers identified in the profile of cap, a textile layer was set between a metal and a layerof bark of paper birch for avoiding direct contact of the metal and the bark of paper birch. Analyses were executed for examining textile layer and a layer of fibroid material. According to microscopic analysis, while the textile layer consisted of the simplest plain fabric with one fold among three kinds of textile structures, the layer of fibroid material was mixed with two or three kinds of fibers. A comparative analysis with standard sample using FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) announced that both textiles and fabrics were hemp. Analysis of kind of the paper birch resulted in barks of paper birch with 15 fold. A metallographic microscope, SEM, and WDS were used for the analysis of microscopic structures of plated metal pieces. While amalgam plating was treated as a plating method, the thickness of the plated layer, a barometer of plating technique, was ranged from $1.72{\mu}m$ to $8.67{\mu}m$. The degree of purity of gold (Au) used in plating was 98% in average, and less than 1% of silver (Ag) was included.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.16
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• pp.14-31
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• 2015

Sword with round pommel discovered in tomb No.39 in the Jisandong tumuli group (M310) is a large sword with a looped pommel enclosing a sculpted dragon head. The sword was produced using different techniques; gold decoration, plating, openwork carving and hammering by using gold and silver. This sword treated conservation work because it has deformation and damages of handle decoration, missing part of sword, and corrosion. Conservation treatment was that foreign material and corroded metal were removed from the surface, and performed to stabilize and reinforce the weakened metal. During the conservation treatment, the object was examined to understand its materials and production method. The result of research, the dragon head inside the looped, amalgam-plated pommel has surface gold decorations. The pommel has a thin gold plate placed over a bottom plate made of copper, which was hammered to create an embossed design. The silver plate-covered hilt, cylindrical in shape, has an openwork lattice design. The steel blade is single-edged. Finally, the locket of the sheath has an embossed design also created through hammering on a thin gold plate placed over the copper bottom plate.

• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2009

Jeollabuk-do is bounded by the sea, and Mahan Baekje culture have been established around a wide plain. Also, in southeastern, it was closed by Gaya kingdom where iron culture was prosperous at that time, a variety of the handles of swords with round pommel is excavated at present. The handles of swords with round pommel is the best amount of excavated objects among the swords with round pommel and producted object for the time. It supposes them to become the foundation of making the decorated swords with round pommel. But, the handles of swords with round pommel that don't have a pattern in handle is indifferent to study because the production method is simple in spite of that the value of archaeological data is sufficient. Therefore, in this study, it examined changed production techniques with the change of times concerning the handles of swords with round pommel of Mahan Baekje Gaya period(before 6C) excavated from Jeollabukdo through using X-rays in order to clarify a variety of production techniques of the handles of swords with round pommel correctly in accordance with a period of production and excavated place. As a result, identified production techniques using X-rays of the handles of swords with round pommel excavated around remains of Mahan Baekje Gaya period shows that production progress improved in order of all-in-one shape, hammer welding shape of the handle of round pommel, and two in body formation in accordance with age. Especially, in two in body shape, it products the handle of round pommel separately, after that it welds the handle of swords and then links the sword blade like a riveting or bottleneck and so on. Despite of improved hammer welding technique, the reason why it didn't utilize is it regards as inlay or gilt will be damaged. And it is judged by using riveting or bottleneck. Also, it appears to techniques of metal craft such as decoration of the handle, decoration of point of sword, inlay, and silver-plating in the period of appearing two in body shape. As clarifying correctly, it provides fundamental database of scientific research about a study of production techniques of handle of swords with round pommel.