Study of corrosion products on Vietnamese archaeological bronzes dating from the Dông Sôn period

In this work corrosion products present on Vietnamese archaeological bronzes from the Dông Sôn period are investigated using several complementary surface analysis techniques. An image with the accompanying depth profile of the different elements within the corrosion layer (Cu, Pb, Sn, O, Si, Al, Cl) was obtained by means of scanning electron microscopy—energy dispersive X‐ray analysis (SEM‐EDX). Raman spectroscopy revealed the presence of azurite, atacamite, and lead white in the corrosion layers. From X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) it is found that lead and tin are present as oxides, the chemical state of copper could not be determined univocally: copper is present as pure Cu or as copper oxide. On the basis of the SEM‐EDX measurements the samples are sorted according to a classification proposed by Robbiola et al . in literature. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.