Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5 No. 4: July–August 2022
Type: Article
Published: 2022-08-29
DOI: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.5.4.8
Page range: 354–361
Abstract views: 425
PDF downloaded: 12

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) characteristics of ancient amber artifacts of the Han Dynasty from Hunan, China

Provincial key Laboratory of Archaeometry, Conservation and utilization of cultural relics, Hunan Museum, Changsha, Hunan, 410005, China
Center of Sci-tech Archaeology, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China
Provincial key Laboratory of Archaeometry, Conservation and utilization of cultural relics, Hunan Museum, Changsha, Hunan, 410005, China
Provincial key Laboratory of Archaeometry, Conservation and utilization of cultural relics, Hunan Museum, Changsha, Hunan, 410005, China
Provincial key Laboratory of Archaeometry, Conservation and utilization of cultural relics, Hunan Museum, Changsha, Hunan, 410005, China
Provincial key Laboratory of Archaeometry, Conservation and utilization of cultural relics, Hunan Museum, Changsha, Hunan, 410005, China
Provincial key Laboratory of Archaeometry, Conservation and utilization of cultural relics, Hunan Museum, Changsha, Hunan, 410005, China
FTIR amber bead archaeological excavation Han Dynasty

Abstract

Here we analyze four ancient amber artifacts of the Han Dynasty (202 BCE–220 CE) by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to reveal their origins. The FTIR results showed the presence of the Baltic shoulder band between 1210–1150 cm-1 and the weak absorption peak near 888 cm-1, so all amber artifacts analyzed here can be classified as succinite originating from the Baltic Sea area (or also Bitterfield or Ukrainian ambers which are Baltic amber coevals). Ancient amber could have been traded from the Baltic area to the Mediterranean via the amber road, and then to the East Asia along the Silk Road. Such exotic materials represent a key for the study of long-distance trade across cultures during ancient times. Very few ancient amber samples excavated in China have been analyzed scientifically so far, and more work is required.

References

  1. Anderson, K.B., Winans, R.E. & Botto, R.E. (1992) The nature and fate of natural resins in the geosphere II: Identification, classification and nomenclature of resinites. Organic Geochemistry. 18, 829–841. https://doi.org/10.1016/0146-6380(92)90051-X
  2. An, T. (2017) Archaeological discovery of amber products in the Han Dynasty and analysis of their existing areas. Chang Zhou Wen Bo Lun Cong, 1, 40–52. [In Chinese]
  3. Beck, C.W. (1986) Spectroscopic investigations of amber. Applied Spectroscopy Reviews, 22, 57–110.
  4. Beck, C.W., Wilbur, E. & Meret, S. (1964) Infrared spectra and the origin of amber. Nature, 201, 256–257. https://doi.org/10.1038/201256a0
  5. Beck, C., Wilbur, E., Meret, S., Kossove, D. & Kermani, L. (1965) the infrared spectra of amber and the identification of Baltic amber. Archaeometry, 8, 96–109. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.1965.tb00896.x
  6. Bouzek, J. (1993) The shifts of the amber route. In: Beck, C.W. & Bouzek, J. (Eds), Amber in archaeology (Proceedings of the Second International Conference on amber in archaeology, Liblice 1990, Institute of Archaeology), Prague, Czech Academy of Sciences, 141–146.
  7. Chen, D., Zeng Q. S., Yuan Y., Cui B.X. & Luo, W.G. (2019) Baltic amber or Burmese amber: FTIR studies on amber artifacts of Eastern Han Dynasty unearthed from Nanyang. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 222, 117270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2019.117270
  8. Edwards, H.G.M., Farwell, D.W. & Villar, S.E.J. (2007) Raman microspectroscopic studies of amber resins with insect inclusions. Spectrochimica Acta Part A, 68, 1089–1095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2006.11.037
  9. Grimaldi. D. (2009) Pushing back amber production. Science. 326, 51–52. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1179328
  10. Huo, W. & Zhao, D.Y. (2007) Foreign cultural exchanges in Southwest China During the Warring States period, Qin and Han Dynasties. Chengdu, Bashu Publishing House. pp 81–111. [In Chinese]
  11. Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (1957) The archaeological report of ancient sites around Changsha. Beijing, Science Press, 166 pp. [In Chinese]
  12. Hood, S. (1993). Amber in Egypt. In: C.W. Beck & J. Bouzek (Eds), Amber in Archaeology (Proceedings of the Second International Conference on amber in archaeology, Liblice 1990, Institute of Archaeology), Prague, Czech Academy of Sciences, 230–235.
  13. Islas, C.A., Suelves, I., Carter, J.F., Herod, A.A. & Kandiyoti, R. (2001) Structural characterisation of Baltic amber and its solvent extracts by several mass spectrometric methods. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 15, 845–856. https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.306
  14. Khanjian, H. Schilling & M., Maish, J. (2013) FTIR and PY-GC/MS investigation of archaeological amber objects from the J. Paul Getty Museum. e-Preservation Sciences, 10, 66–70.
  15. Lambert J. B., Shawl, C. E., Poinar, G.O., Jr. & Santiago-Blay, J. A. (1999) Classification of modern resins by solid nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Bioorganic Chemistry, 27, 409–433. https://doi.org/10.1006/bioo.1999.1147
  16. Liu, X.N. (2020) Powder for treating sores: research on the spread of amber along the Southern Silk Road and its medicinal development. Journal of the Social History of Medicine and Health, 5, 64–84, 237–238. [In Chinese]
  17. Matuszewska, A. & Karwowski, Ł. (2000) Thin-layer chromatography in investigation of the chemical structure of Baltic amber. Journal of Planar Chromatography, 13, 140–145.
  18. Mills, J., White, R. & Gough, L. (1984) The chemical composition of Baltic amber. Chemical Geology, 47, 15–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(84)90097-4
  19. Mir, N.A. (2020) Lahore as a centre of commerce: 1580–1707. Indian Historical Review, 47, 40–5. https://doi.org/10.1177/0376983620922407
  20. Mukherjee, A.J., Roßberger, E., James M. A., Pfälzner, P., Higgitt, C.L., White, R., Peggie, D.A., Azar, D. & Evershed, R.P., (2008) The Qatna lion: scientific confirmation of Baltic amber in late Bronze Age Syria. Antiquity, 82, 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00096435
  21. Murillo-Barroso, M., Peñalver E., Bueno, P., Barroso, R., de Balbín, R. & Martinón-Torres, M. (2018) Amber in prehistoric Iberia: New data and a review. PLoS ONE, 13, e0202235. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202235
  22. Navarro, J.M. (1925) Prehistoric routes between Northern Europe and Italy defined by the amber trade. The Geographical Journal, 66, 481–503. https://doi.org/10.2307/1783003
  23. Pakutinskiene, I., Kiuberis, J., Bezdicka, P., Senvaitiene, J. & Kareiva, A. (2007) Analytical characterization of Baltic amber by FTIR, XRD and SEM. Canadian Journal of Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy, 52, 297–304.
  24. Park, J., Yun, E., Kang, H., Ahn, J. & Kim, G. (2016) IR and py/GC/MS examination of amber relics excavated from 6th century royal tomb in Korean Peninsula. Spectrochemical Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 165, 114–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2016.04.015
  25. Purowski, T., Kępa, L. & Wagner, B. (2018) Glass on the Amber Road: the chemical composition of glass beads from the Bronze Age in Poland. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 10, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0443-8
  26. Qi, L.,J., Yuan, X.Q., Peng, G.Z. & Wang, Y.Q. (2005) Three dimensional fluorescence spectra representation of natural and treated amber. Journal of Gems and Gemmology, 7, 10–16. [In Chinese with English abstract]
  27. Riddle, J.M. (1973) Amber in ancient pharmacy: the transmission of information about a single drug: a case study. Pharmacy in History, 15, 3–17.
  28. Serpico, M. & White, R. (2000) Resins, amber and bitumen. In: Nicholson, P.T. & Shaw, I. (Eds), Ancient Egyptian materials and Technology. Part. II, Chapter 18. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 430–475.
  29. Shashoua. Y., Berthelsen, M.B.L.D. & Nielsen, O.F. (2006) Raman and ATR-FTIR spectroscopies applied to the conservation of archaeological Baltic amber. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 37, 1221–1227. https://doi.org/10.1002/jrs.1586
  30. Shi, G.H., Grimaldi, D., Harlow, G. E., Wang, J., Wang. J., Yang, M. C., Lei, W.Y., Li, Q.L. & Li, X.H. (2013) Age constraint on Burmese amber based on U-Pb dating of zircons. Cretaceous Research, 37, 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2012.03.014
  31. So, J.F. (2013) Amber as aromatic in Medieval China. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Special Issue: Perfumery and Ritual in Asia, 23, 85–101. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186313000023
  32. Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. (1999) Sanxingdui sacrifice pit. Beijing, Cultural Relics Publishing House, pp. 117 [In Chinese]
  33. Treister, M. (2020) Beads and decoration elements made of amber in items of jewelry from the burials of the nomads of Asian Sarmatia in the context of trade in exotic materials in Eurasia. МАИСП, 12, 148–223. [In Russian with English abstract]
  34. Wang, Y., Shi, G.H., Shi, W. & Wu, R.H. (2015) Infrared spectral characteristics of ambers from three main sources (Baltic, Dominica and Burma). Spectroscopy and Spectral Analysis, 35, 2164–2169. [In Chinese with English abstract]
  35. Zhao, H.X., Li, Q.H., Liu, S., Li, L. & Gan F.X. (2014) In situ analysis of stratified glass eye beads from the tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State in Hubei Province, China using XRF and micro-Raman spectrometry. X-Ray Spectrometry, 43, 316–324. https://doi.org/10.1002/xrs.2557