A versatile integrated protocol to extract organic balms from archaeological linen.

What is it about?

Radiocarbon dating of archaeological textiles can be particularly challenging when exogenous organic balms were deposited on their surface, as these organic mixtures can sometimes contain radiocarbon-depleted materials such as fossil bitumen. This is a key issue for radiocarbon dating of linen fragments used in the wrapping of Egyptian mummies, as bitumen has been repeatedly identified in several contexts. Radiocarbon dating of contaminated fragments can be facilitated by an analytical approach involving textile surface analysis by ATR-IR (Attenuated Total Reflection - Infrared Spectroscopy) to diagnose the state of contamination observed on each fragment, followed by a three-step organic extraction to remove all chemical families identified.

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