PYROLYSIS-GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC STUDIES ON EGYPTIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS - ORGANIC PATINAS ON THE 3 PRINCESSES GOLD VESSELS

In 1916 a tomb in Egypt of three foreign wives of Thutmosis III was discovered and looted by robbers. Soon after, objects including gold vessels purporting to be from the tomb, were offered to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the mid-1970's the museum began a comprehensive study of this so-called "Three Princesses" Treasure. There soon was a growing realization that some of the gold was of modern origin. In a recent study using pyrolysis gas chromatography (Py-GC) we found that the organic patinas on all of the faked vessels gave virtually identical pyrograms; these in turn are very similar to pyrograms of standard mixtures of salts of long chain fatty acids. Further, the pyrograms of the patinas were identical to pyrograms of the organic contents from one of the jars from the same find. Py-GC made it possible to establish the identity of the patinas and the jar contents quickly. Further analysis by conventional methods was undertaken to identify the composition of this material.