by M․Dolores Ynsa, Silvia Viñals, Rita Pestana, Berta Balduz, Victoria Corregidor and Joaquín Barrio
Abstract:
In 2019, the Torre Monreal necropolis was discovered in the urban centre of Tudela, in the north of Spain (Navarra). This Islamic necropolis has a great amount of graves with rich funeral’s dowries, therefore it is of a high archaeological and historical interest. In this work, in order to determine the elemental concentration of different objects, mainly metallic pieces such as rings, earrings, necklaces, belt buckles, etc., have been analysed by Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) using the external microbeam line at CMAM (Centro de Microanálisis de Materiales in Madrid). Most of the metallic objects with a gilded look exhibit Au concentrations higher than 50 %, Ag and Hg levels close to 20 %, and low or trace concentrations of other elements such as Cu or Fe. The elemental concentration of these pieces has been compared with data from other Islamic piece from the Andalusian city, Qalat-Rabah (Calatrava la Vieja) collection which correspond to the same historic medieval period, 13th – 15th century.
Reference:
M․Dolores Ynsa, Silvia Viñals, Rita Pestana, Berta Balduz, Victoria Corregidor and Joaquín Barrio, “Micro-PIXE analysis of metal archaeological pieces from Torre Monreal necropolis”, Journal of Cultural Heritage, vol. 73, pp. 419–425.
Bibtex Entry:
@article{ynsa_micro-pixe_2025, title = {Micro-{PIXE} analysis of metal archaeological pieces from {Torre} {Monreal} necropolis}, volume = {73}, issn = {1296-2074}, url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1296207425000822}, doi = {10.1016/j.culher.2025.04.025}, abstract = {In 2019, the Torre Monreal necropolis was discovered in the urban centre of Tudela, in the north of Spain (Navarra). This Islamic necropolis has a great amount of graves with rich funeral's dowries, therefore it is of a high archaeological and historical interest. In this work, in order to determine the elemental concentration of different objects, mainly metallic pieces such as rings, earrings, necklaces, belt buckles, etc., have been analysed by Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) using the external microbeam line at CMAM (Centro de Microanálisis de Materiales in Madrid). Most of the metallic objects with a gilded look exhibit Au concentrations higher than 50 %, Ag and Hg levels close to 20 %, and low or trace concentrations of other elements such as Cu or Fe. The elemental concentration of these pieces has been compared with data from other Islamic piece from the Andalusian city, Qalat-Rabah (Calatrava la Vieja) collection which correspond to the same historic medieval period, 13th – 15th century.}, urldate = {2025-05-27}, journal = {Journal of Cultural Heritage}, author = {Ynsa, M․Dolores and Viñals, Silvia and Pestana, Rita and Balduz, Berta and Corregidor, Victoria and Barrio, Joaquín}, month = may, year = {2025}, keywords = {PIXE, Gold, Silver, Islamic necropolis, Metallic objects}, pages = {419--425}, file = {PDF:E:\Usuarios\Administrator\Zotero\storage\T7LBIAXH\Ynsa et al. - 2025 - Micro-PIXE analysis of metal archaeological pieces from Torre Monreal necropolis.pdf:application/pdf}, }