15–21 Jun 2025
Yerevan
Asia/Yerevan timezone

X-ray Tomographic and Spectroscopic Study of Bronze Jewellery from the Teishebaini Burial Site (Armenia)

20 Jun 2025, 09:50
20m
Gyumri

Gyumri

Speaker

Yury Cherepennikov

Description

The study of Urartian metallurgy remains a significant topic in the investigation of metal production in the Ancient Near East during the first half of the first millennium BC. Excavations conducted between 2014 and 2016 at the newly discovered necropolis of Teishebaini (Karmir Blur), a city of the Kingdom of Urartu, uncovered over 250 burials, yielding several hundred metal artefacts. The majority of these were bronze items, including jewellery, weapons, horse harness and chariot components, seals, and other objects.
To gain insight into the manufacturing techniques and chemical composition of personal possessions and funerary offerings, metal artefacts from Burial N12 were analysed using X-ray-based methods. Historical and comparative analysis dates this burial to the 7th century BC.
Bronze artefacts, specifically four bracelets and a necklace, were examined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT). XRF analysis revealed a highly uneven distribution of the primary alloy constituents—copper and tin—within the samples. μCT imaging provided detailed insights into the metalworking techniques employed in the production of these items, shedding light on the craftsmanship of Urartian jewellers.

Authors

Yury Cherepennikov Vardan Margaryan (Institute of Applied Problems of Physics NAS RA) Arus Shahverdyan (Institute of Applied Problems of Physics NAS RA) Nikolay Filatov (National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University) Vahan Kocharyan (Institute of Applied Problems of Physics of NAS RA) Prof. Hakob Simonyan (Yerevan State University)

Presentation materials