MRS Bulletin/Jan.’01/GB Stephenson, B. Stephenson & D.R. Haeffner, p As-cast vs. rolled vs. rolled and recrystallized brass.

Excerpts from: The Iceman’s Axe: Texture applied to Archaeometallurgy Seminar at CMU, April 2005 by: G. Artioli Università degli Studi di Milano Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra [Department of Earth Sciences, Milan University for Study]

Ötzi ~ 3200 B.C.

Iceman/Ötzi

Iceman axe (Ötzi) blade body Note the lack of texture

Lovere LOV-330 By contrast with the Ötzi Iceman’s Axe, this axe was worked.

Summary X-ray diffraction (and fluorescence) experiments are a very useful probe of materials and their history. For historical artifacts, non-destructive techniques are often a requirement. Synchrotron radiation with large penetration depths permits large objects to be examined without removing samples. Sophisticated metal-processing technology is surprisingly old!