Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
Pages - 69
APPENDIX Record of instrumental analyses Data of the sample: Description of the sample: a metal fragment covered with reddish corrosion. It is shiny at spots with some kind of a silvery coating. Analysis was made on a single fracture surface (“tip of the helmet”) and on a spot of silvery coating (“helmet coating”). Method of the analysis: Optical microscopic study. Electron microprobe analysis (EDS) to determine the qualitative and informative quantitative element composition on the surface of the sample. EDS analyses were made by Attila Tóth (Technical Physical and Material Scientific Research Institute of the MTA). Results of the analysis: Iron, zinc, copper, silicon, sulphur, chlorine, potassium and calcium could be demonstrated on the fracture surface of the sample. The informative quantitative analysis suggested a copper-zinc alloy. The coppenzinc proportion is about 6:1, which means a zinc content of about 13-15%. Aluminium, silicon (3-1.5%) and other elements present in less than 1% are probably impurities from the environment (soil) (see supplement no. 1). The qualitative composition of the silvery coating is the following: iron, zinc, copper, silicon, sulphur, chlorine, potassium, tin and calcium. The informative quantitative analysis suggests that the proportion of tin surpasses 10%. 11. Reconstructed helmet from the front CONCLUSIONS Based on the results of the informative analyses the sample is a copper-zinc alloy, which is covered at some places with a thin tin coating. 69
