Ricerc@Sapienza

This work reports the first employment of a gel polymer-based electrochemical cell to perform electrochemical impedance analysis of archaeological remains. The patinas of three Roman coins are studied through of electrochemical techniques (especially Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, EIS) along with Electron Scanning Microscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), in order to validate the results obtained with jellified electrolyte. SEM-EDS and XRD analyses reveal the composition of the patinas suggesting that the original alloys were made of Cu and Cu–Sn–Pb.

Voltammetry of microparticles (VMP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques, complemented by SEM-EDX and Raman spectroscopy, were applied to a set of 15 Roman bronze coins and one Tessera from the temple of Magna Mater (Rome, Italy). The archaeological site, dated back be- tween the second half and the end of the 4th century A.D., presented a complicated stratigraphic context.

The application of solid state electrochemistry techniques for dating archaeological strata using lead-containing bronze coins is described. The proposed methodology was applied to samples coming from the Roman archaeological site of Magna Mater Temple (Rome, Italy) occurring in different strata dating back between the second half and the end of the 4th century A.D. and the 20th century.