Analysis of adhesives used on the Melbourne University Cypriot pottery Collection using a portable FTIR-ATR analyzer

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the unique advantages of using a portable FTIR spectrometer with a diamond ATR window for analyzing micro-samples of adhesive obtained from archaeological pottery. The Cypriot collection housed in the Ian Potter Museum of Art at the University of Melbourne was used as a case study for identifying adhesive samples. An initial survey of the collection determined which items have been repaired with an adhesive and estimated the level of difficulty that would be involved with removing a sample. Next a polymer resin identification survey was conducted on all items, which had adhesive repairs. Instead of removing artifacts from their museum storage area, which pose the risk..