Early roman empire intaglios from 'Rescue excavations' in Paris: an application of the Raman microprobe to the non-destructive characterization of archaeological objects

摘要

Three coloured, polished and beautifully engraved small stone objects (intaglios) were recently discovered during 'rescue excacations' in central Raris which uncovered relics of Early Roan Empire roads and buildings. Mineral identification was of course desirable, but without extracting any material for analysis. This presented an ideal application of the Raman microprobe (RMP),a non-destructive technique which can be used to characterize materials without sample preparation.