FT-IR spectroscopic study of terra-cotta sarcophagi recently excavated in Ainos (Enez) Turkey Gulnur Kurap a , Sevim Akyuz b, * , Tanil Akyuz b , Sait Basaran a , Banu Cakan a a Department of Restoration and Conservation of Artefacts, Letters Faculty, Istanbul University, Vezneciler, 34134 Istanbul, Turkey b Department of Physics, Faculty of Science and Letters, Istanbul Kultur University, Atakoy Campus, 34156 Bakirkoy, Istanbul, Turkey article info Article history: Received 23 December 2009 Received in revised form 7 April 2010 Accepted 7 April 2010 Available online 13 April 2010 Keywords: Ancient terra-cotta sarcophagi Archaeometry Inorganic pigments IR spectroscopy XRF abstract In this study, painting materials and body samples of the decorated terra-cotta sarcophagi, and the body samples of six terra-cotta sarcophagi, recently excavated in Ancient Ainos (Enez) Turkey, were investi- gated, using the FT-IR spectrometry. EDXRF spectrometry was used as a complementary technique. The experimental results allowed us to identify the mineralogical composition of body samples and main pigments of the decorated parts of the terra-cotta sarcophagi. Spectroscopic results revealed that the investigated samples were fired to a temperature less than 750 °C, in the oxidising atmosphere. Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Recently, infrared spectroscopy has become widely utilized for investigation of archaeological artefacts [1–10]. This technique has proven very powerful for identification and characterization of small amounts of samples. Ancient Ainos (Enez) is one of the most important archaeological sites in Turkey [11,12]. It was founded at Trace, where Antic Hebros (Meric) river meets the Ae- gean Sea [11]. The found remains show that first residents of Enez were dated back to 7300 years from now and life in here has con- tinued till today [11]. In our previous studies [12–14] we have re- ported the vibrational spectra of ancient potteries excavated in ancient Ainos and wall paintings of ancient Ainos Hagia (Saint) So- phia Church. As continuation of our studies on archaeological find- ings coming from ancient Ainos, in this study, painting materials and body samples of two decorated terra-cotta sarcophagi, found in Cakillik Necropolis (Ainos) in 2005, and body samples of six ter- ra-cotta sarcophagi, found in Su Terazisi Necropolis (Ainos) in 2008, were investigated using FT-IR spectrometry. The aim of this study was to identify colorant elements of the painted decorations of Cakillik Necropolis’s sarcophagi and the mineralogical composi- tion of body samples of all sarcophagi found in Ainos, using FT-IR spectrometry in order to have scientific data about their produc- tion techniques. Additional elemental informations are obtained by using EDXRF spectrometry. 2. Experimental IR spectra of the KBr discs of the samples were collected using a Jasco-300 FT-IR spectrometer (2 cm 1 resolution), possessing KBr optics and a HP-DTGS detector with KBr windows. The spectra were obtained as average of 150 measurements. Spectral manipu- lations, such as baseline adjustment, band fitting and obtaining second derivative, were performed using GRAMS/AI Thermo Glac- tic software. Band fitting was done using Gaussian function and fit- ting was undertaken until reproducible and converged results were obtained with squared correlations better than r 2  0.9998. The second derivative profile gives valuable information about the po- sition of the bands. Thus for the band fitting procedure (to locate the position of the peaks), the second derivative of the absorption spectrum was used as a guide. The second derivatives of the spec- tra were obtained by using Savitzky–Golay function (two polyno- mial degrees, 19 points). EDXRF spectra of the samples were recorded on a spectro IQ XIQ01 model spectrometer. 3. Macroscopic analysis and sampling All investigated sarcophagi are known as Clazomenian type [15] and have been discovered fragmented in the excavations. The two decorated sarcophagi (CK-M23 and CK-M26) found in Cakillik Necropolis, were dated to classical and early classical period. One of these two sarcophagi (CK-M23) is decorated with 2 cm height egg and dart molding in its inner and outer edges. The photographs 0022-2860/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.molstruc.2010.04.009 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 212 498 4401; fax: +90 212 465 8310. E-mail address: s.akyuz@iku.edu.tr (S. Akyuz). Journal of Molecular Structure 976 (2010) 161–167 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Molecular Structure journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/molstruc