TL-Testing

[barnejp]

Hi All,

 

I noticed a post or two regarding TL-Testing.

For Members thinking of using this technique, is there an individual, organization, university, that is recommend?

 

Thank you,

Greg

[ggil]

a 'destructive' technique, so not something many would condone here.  would add some certainty to the field though, a small chunk taken out of the nakago, as in the amount lost when adding a mekugi ana, wouldn't cause me to lose much sleep.  go science! never heard of anyone doing this on the NMB.  I was one time asking here about nano-indentation hardness testing and got the whole, "you want to destroy nihonto, go for it a%$hole," type of response.  Supposed to be about preserving here so makes sense.  Maybe a PM to the old thread members (in the posts you found) would get more bites.  People don't want to be known as those that would jimmy around with antiques here, makes for alienation within the community. 

[johnnyi]

I was under the impression Grant, that TL testing is limited to pottery?  I suppose the least destructive way  to limit damage  is to limit testing to   shards or damaged pieces (from particular location  to get an idea how old an accompanying undamaged piece might be.) If a tiny amount of clay has to be removed from the foot of a sound piece it may be that determining age could insure that such a piece will be treasured and preserved rather than ignored. It is a case by case thing I would guess. Here is a link which might be helpful, and suggests Oxford as one place to inquire about this. daybreaknuclear.us/bortolot_faq.htm

[John A Stuart]

Even this can be faked. Just take a new pottery piece and x-ray it a couple of times and voila. The test measures accumulated irradiation over time. Two small samples are ground, one is dose irradiated and both are heated to give a glow curve and compared. It is valid in dug or found samples that have provenance, but, not so much for intelligently faked pieces. John 

[johnnyi]

Excellent point John!

 

johnnyi

[ROKUJURO]

There is still another method in faking which is used where the technical methods like X-rays are not available. Grave robbers often find large amounts of antique ceramic shards they cannot use for sale. These shards are ground down to produce grog. This is mixed with clay to manufacture copies of antique items which are difficult to be identified as such. It is said that even many museum pieces of seemingly Aztec and Inca provenience have been faked this way.  

When scientifically tested, these ceramic items do not provide clear results as fakes, so they are often thought to be authentic.