Raymond White

The organic chemistry of museum objects

Preface Introduction Basic organic chemistry Analytic methods oils and fats Natural waxes Bituminous materials Carbohydrates: sugars and polysaccharides Proteins Natural resins and lacquers Synthetic materials Dyestuffs and other coloured materials Deterioration: causes and prevention Analysis in practice.

The Qatna lion: scientific confirmation of Baltic amber in late Bronze Age Syria

Using pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the authors show that amber was imported into Late Bronze Age Syria and used for making the prestige artefacts found in a Royal tomb of c. 1340 BC. The objects included beads and a unique vessel in the form of a lion, likely fashioned in Syria from raw amber imported from the Baltic via the Aegean.

The botanical identity and transport of incense during the Egyptian New Kingdom

Resin preserved on New Kingdom vessels from Amarna in Middle Egypt provides evidence for incense burning and trade. Here Margaret Serpico & Raymond White describe a new interdisciplinary research project.