Sticky tape: A key ingredient for mapping artifact origins
Monday, March 9, 2020 - 07:50
in Physics & Chemistry
Researchers at the RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science in Japan have demonstrated that combining a highly sensitive sulfur analysis technique with simple sulfur-free tape is an effective and harmless way to test extremely small samples of vermilion from artifacts that are thousands of years old. Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, the study used this technique to confirm that trade likely existed between Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and the western part of Japan's mainland—a distance of over 1000 miles—more than 3000 years ago.