Keywords
oriental lacquers, archeology, Orgoyton burial ground, conservation, Xiongnu, scanning electron microscopy, pyrolysis gas chromatomass spectrometry,
How to Cite
Kalinina K. B., Nikolayev N. N., Michri M. V., Revelsky A. I. Archaeological lacquer objects from the Orgoyton burial ground // The Art of Eurasia, 2021. № 4 (23). P. 208-217. URL: https://doi.org/10.46748/ARTEURAS.2021.04.016.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Current Issue
Information
Make a Submission
Abstract
The studied lacquer artifacts were discovered during the excavations of the princely Hunnu burial mound at the Orgoyton burial ground in Transbaikalia, which dates back to the I century BC – I century AD and which is associated with the Asian Huns (Hunnu), in the Orgoyton burial ground on the territory of Transbaikalia. Although the burial was looted in ancient times, parts of the wheels of a Chinese chariot were found in it, covered with black lacquer, as well as small fragments, possibly fragments of lacquer ware. The technological features of these various objects were studied by studying the stratigraphy of the sections using the methods of polarization microscopy (PM) and scanning (scanning) electron microscopy in combination with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (SEM/ERM). The composition of organic materials was studied using pyrolytic chromatomass spectrometry. As a result of the study, it was shown that when creating all the items, Chinese urushi varnish was used. Since the lacquer trees whose sap serves for the manufacture of such products do not grow in this region, the result obtained complements the available information about the existence of ethnic contacts between China and the peoples living in Transbaikalia. After the study of archaeological sites, their conservation was carried out.
References
- Kalinina K.B., Nikolaev N.N., Michri M.V. Issledovaniye lakovykh ob"yektov i ikh fragmentov iz mogil'nikov Orgoyton i Il'movaya pad' [The study of lacquer objects and their fragments from the burial grounds of Orgoyton and Ilmovaya Pad]. Rossiyskiye nanotekhnologii — Russian Nanotechnologies, 2021, vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 93–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S199272232105006X (In Russian).
- Michri M.V., Kalinina K.B., Menshikova M.L. Iz opyta restavratsii arkheologicheskoy lakovoy korobochki s kryshkoy [From the experience of restoration of an archaeological lacquer box with a lid]. Restavratsiya proizvedeniy dekorativno-prikladnogo iskusstva v Gosudarstvennom Ermitazhe [Restoration of works of decorative and applied art in the State Hermitage Museum]. Issue 2. St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, 2016, pp. 106–109. (In Russian).
- Nikolaev N.N., Minyaev S.S. Raboty Tsentral'no-Aziatskoy arkheologicheskoy ekspeditsii na mogil'nike Orgoyton [Some results of the study of the “princely burial mound” of the Hunnu at the Orgoyton burial ground]. Arkheologicheskiy sbornik Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha — Archaeological Collection of the State Hermitage, 2019, No. 42, pp. 110–123. (In Russian).
- Nikolaev N.N., Minyaev S.S. Raboty Tsentral'no-Aziatskoy arkheologicheskoy ekspeditsii na mogil'nike Orgoyton [The work of the Central Asian archaeological expedition at the Orgoiton burial ground]. Arkheologicheskiy sbornik Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha — Archaeological Collection of the State Hermitage, 2017, No. 41, pp. 143–158. (In Russian).
- Polosmak N.V., Bogdanov E.S. Noin-ulinskaya kollektsiya. Rezul'taty raboty rossiysko-mongol'skoy ekspeditsii, 2006–2012 gg. [Noin-Ulinsky collection. Results of the Russian-Mongolian expedition, 2006–2012]. Novosibirsk, INFOLIO Publ., 2016. 176 p. (In Russian).
- Talko-Grintsevich Yu.D. Materialy k paleoetnologii Zabaykal'ya [Materials for paleoethnology of Transbaikalia]. St. Petersburg, Asiatica Foundation Publ., 1999. 123 p. (In Russian).
- Kitamura S. Restoration of ancient Japanese urushi art objects. In: Kühlenthal M. (ed.). Japanese and European Lacquerware. Munich, Bayerischen Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, 2000, pp. 61–72.
- Ma X.-M., Lu R., Miyakoshi T. Application of Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry in Lacquer Research. Polymers, 2014, No. 6 (1), pp. 132–144. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym6010132
- Niimura N., Miyakoshi T. Characterization of Natural Resin Films and Identification of Ancient Coating. Journal of the Mass Spectrometry Society of Japan, 2003, No. 51 (4), pp. 439–457. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5702/massspec.51.439
- Niimura N., Miyakoshi T., Onodera J., Higuchi T. Identification of Ancient Lacquer Film Using Two-Stage Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography / Mass Spectrometry. Archaeometry, 1999, No. 41 (1), pp. 137–49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.1999.tb00856.x
- Nikolaev N.N., Miniaev S.S. Orgoiton – A Xiongnu Cemetery in Transbaikalia. The Silk Road, 2016, vol. 14, pp. 166–168.
- Schilling M.R., Heginbotham A., Keulen H., Szelewski M. Beyond the basics: A systematic approach for comprehensive analysis of organic materials in Asian lacquers. Studies in Conservation, 2016, vol. 6 (1), p. 3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2016.1230978
