The Tréstina bronzes have been known about since 1897/1907, when they were found in a site near Città di Castello (Umbria), near the border with Tuscany; they are at now in the Archaeological Museum in Florence. Over the years many authors (M. Pallottino, P. Amandry, L. Banti, M. Gras) have devoted attention to what was generally considered "a hoard", stressing its peculiar stylistic character; it was alleged to be "Urartian", on account of the masterly technique employed in the fashioning of the bronze and iron tripod-stand, whose reconstruction, by the late Clelia Laviosa and Antonella Romualdi, was displayed in a major exhibition held in 2000 at the Museo Civico Archeologico in Bologna, "Principi Etruschi, tra Mediterraneo ed Europa". This paper aims at presenting, briefly from the archaeological aspect, and more thoroughly from the technical and analytical points of view the Tréstina bronzes: not a hoard, and probably not Urartian, nonetheless they are of the greatest interest for the technical skill employed in casting bronze animal's heads and feet on the iron structure of the tripod-stand. Besides, the find includes about 40 more pieces, among which four griffin's heads, probably pertaining to another cauldron, two pairs of appliqués of Etruscan (Chiusi) style, "Cypriot" handle attachments, basins fragments, six "Rhodian" handles, a pair of horse-bits, four conic helmets and a Corinthian one, pieces of furniture, axes, etc., all made of bronze and dating, as a whole, from VII-VI century BC. The scientific investigations mainly aimed at understanding the fabrication technique of the tripod stand and identifying its constituent parts. Non-destructive X-ray fluorescence and atomic spectroscopy analyses proved a reasonable compositional homogeneity within the pieces supposedly pertaining to such a complex object, whereas significant differences were observed with all the other pieces. Further investigations on the casting technique were carried out by X-ray and IACS conductivity measurements; these will not be addressed here, as an extensive treatment of both the archaeological and scientific aspects of this project will be published in the next future.
The Tréstina Bronzes: Archaeometry and Archaeology
M Ferretti;
2008
Abstract
The Tréstina bronzes have been known about since 1897/1907, when they were found in a site near Città di Castello (Umbria), near the border with Tuscany; they are at now in the Archaeological Museum in Florence. Over the years many authors (M. Pallottino, P. Amandry, L. Banti, M. Gras) have devoted attention to what was generally considered "a hoard", stressing its peculiar stylistic character; it was alleged to be "Urartian", on account of the masterly technique employed in the fashioning of the bronze and iron tripod-stand, whose reconstruction, by the late Clelia Laviosa and Antonella Romualdi, was displayed in a major exhibition held in 2000 at the Museo Civico Archeologico in Bologna, "Principi Etruschi, tra Mediterraneo ed Europa". This paper aims at presenting, briefly from the archaeological aspect, and more thoroughly from the technical and analytical points of view the Tréstina bronzes: not a hoard, and probably not Urartian, nonetheless they are of the greatest interest for the technical skill employed in casting bronze animal's heads and feet on the iron structure of the tripod-stand. Besides, the find includes about 40 more pieces, among which four griffin's heads, probably pertaining to another cauldron, two pairs of appliqués of Etruscan (Chiusi) style, "Cypriot" handle attachments, basins fragments, six "Rhodian" handles, a pair of horse-bits, four conic helmets and a Corinthian one, pieces of furniture, axes, etc., all made of bronze and dating, as a whole, from VII-VI century BC. The scientific investigations mainly aimed at understanding the fabrication technique of the tripod stand and identifying its constituent parts. Non-destructive X-ray fluorescence and atomic spectroscopy analyses proved a reasonable compositional homogeneity within the pieces supposedly pertaining to such a complex object, whereas significant differences were observed with all the other pieces. Further investigations on the casting technique were carried out by X-ray and IACS conductivity measurements; these will not be addressed here, as an extensive treatment of both the archaeological and scientific aspects of this project will be published in the next future.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
