PRELIMINARY ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SOME ORGANIC CONTENTS OF PIERIDES MUSEUM.

The archaeometric investigation aimed to separate out certain apparently organic-resinous sediments. These sediments implied particular preservation conditions. The investigation used several colour-test methods generally reported in the chemical-toxicological literature (the Halphen-Grimaldi method, the Bloor mixture, the Liebermann, Marquis, Bellier, Chen, Vitali, Bechi and McNally reactions and toxicological tests). These methods are based on dissolving residues extracted from different archaeological sediments in the bottom of pottery in acidified or alkalinised solvents, in order to trigger, with an appropriate reagent, the development of a specific colour that narrows the analytic field; in the end, the unknown substance can be identified by a specific reaction. In certain circumstances, we used chloroform acidified with HCl to extract alkaloids that had been salified in the chloroform phase. The extreme sensitivity of these reactions makes it possible to work with very small quantities of archaeological sediments.