Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Improvements to the analytical protocol of lapis lazuli provenance: First study on Myanmar rock samples

  • Regular Article
  • Published:
The European Physical Journal Plus Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract.

The study of lapis lazuli is important to find out information about the provenance of a material used since the Neolithic Age for the manufacturing of precious carved artefacts. The Badakhshan deposits in Afghanistan are commonly considered as the main source of lapis lazuli in ancient times. However, other quarries could have possibly been exploited since antiquity. A protocol to distinguish the provenance of lapis lazuli rocks among four known source areas (located in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Siberia and Chile) by means of non-invasive techniques was set up in the last years. It is based on differences in the physical-chemical properties measured in 45 lapis lazuli rocks that constitute our reference database. The aim of the present paper is to extend the protocol analysing, by means of a multi-analytical approach, 10 lapis lazuli rock samples, coming from the quarry district of Mandalay in Myanmar, to find out significant petrographic and mineralogical markers. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to perform a detailed petrographic and mineralogical characterisation allowing to distinguish the Myanmar lapis lazuli in three main groups. SEM-EDX analyses on selected mineral phases were performed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. M. Casanova, Dial. Hist. Anc. 27-2, 149 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. A.F. Rogers, Am. Mineral. 23, 111 (1938)

    Google Scholar 

  3. J.K. Van Peteghem, B.J. Burley, Can. Mineral. 7, 808 (1963)

    Google Scholar 

  4. N. Voskoboinikova, Zap. Vseross. Mineral. Obshchestva 67, 601 (1938)

    Google Scholar 

  5. J. Wyart, P. Bariand, J. Filippi, Gems Gemmol. 17, 184 (1981)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. G.M. Bulgarelli, M. Tosi, Geo-Archeologia 1-2, 37 (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  7. G. Herrmann, Iraq 30, 21 (1968)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. G. Herrmann, P. Moorey, Lapis lazuli, in Reallexikon Der Assyriologie Und Vorderasiatischen Archaologisch (W. de Gruyter, Berlin, 1983) pp. 489--492

  9. V. Sarianidi, L.H. Kowalaski, Archaeology 24, 12 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  10. M. Tosi, M. Vidale, Paléorient 16, 89 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. R. Law, Evaluating potential lapis lazuli sources for ancient South Asia using sulfur isotope analysis, in “My life is like the summer rose” Maurizio Tosi e l’archeologia come modo di vivere, edited by B. Cerasetti, B. Genito, C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky (BAR, 2014) pp. 419--429

  12. A. Lo Giudice et al., Archaeol. Anthropol. Sci. 9, 637 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. D. Angelici et al., Microscopy Microanal. 21, 526 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. A. Lo Giudice et al., Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 395, 2211 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. A. Re et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B 348, 278 (2015)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. A. Re et al., Appl. Phys. A 111, 69 (2013)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. A. Re et al., Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B 269, 2373 (2011)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. A. Lo Giudice et al., Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 404, 277 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. C. Da Cunha, Le Lapis Lazuli: Son Histoire, ses Gisements, ses Imitations (Editions du Rucher, Paris, 1989)

  20. D.D. Hogarth, W.L. Griffin, Lithos 9, 39 (1976)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. W.C. Brøgger, H. Bäckström, Cryst. Mater. 18, 209 (1891)

    Google Scholar 

  22. D.D. Hogarth, W.L. Griffin, Can. Mineral. 18, 59 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  23. R.R. Coenraads, C. Canut de Bon, Gems Gemmol. 36, 28 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. G.L. Cuitino, Rev. Geol. Chile 27, 57 (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  25. R.C. Esquivel, M.E. Benavides Muñoz, Bol. Mineral. 16, 57 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  26. D.D. Hogarth, W.L. Griffin, Lithos 11, 37 (1978)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. S.W. Faryad, Precambr. Res. 98, 223 (1999)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. T. Moore, R.W. Woodside, Mineral. Record 45, 280 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  29. M.P. Searle et al., Geol. Soc. London Mem. 48, 261 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Maung Thein, Soe Win, J. Sci. Technol., Burma 3, 487 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  31. A.H.G. Mitchell et al., J. Asian Earth Sci. 29, 891 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. F. Bender, Geology of Burma (Bannert, Dietrich, Jörn Brinckmann, 1983)

  33. T. Themelis, Gems and Mines of Mogok (A&T Pub., USA, 2008)

  34. K. Petrakakis, H. Dietrich, Neues Jahrb. Mineral. 8, 379 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  35. M.E. Fleet et al., Can. Mineral. 43, 1589 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. D.L. Whitney, B.W. Evans, Am. Mineral. 95, 185 (2010)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. S.M. Aleksandrov, V.G. Senin, Geochem. Int. 44, 976 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. T.J.B. Holland, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 82, 214 (1983)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. F.C. Hawthorne et al., Am. Mineral. 97, 2031 (2012)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  40. G.A. Yurgenson, B.P. Sukharev, Int. Geol. Rev. 27, 230 (1985)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. R. Kostov, Lazurite from central Asia according to the ethnonym Balkhara, in Bulgarian Geological Society, Annual Scientific Conference 38 (2004)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CNR- Isitituto di Geoscienze e Georisorse, Via Valperga Caluso, 35, Torino, Italy

    Gloria Vaggelli

  2. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 1, Torino, Italy

    Leila Es Sebar, Alessandro Re & Alessandro Lo Giudice

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, Torino, Italy

    Alessandro Borghi & Roberto Cossio

  4. INFN Sezione di Torino, Via Pietro Giuria 1, Torino, Italy

    Alessandro Re & Alessandro Lo Giudice

  5. TecnArt S.r.l., via Modena 58, Torino, Italy

    Fulvio Fantino

Authors
  1. Gloria Vaggelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Leila Es Sebar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alessandro Borghi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Roberto Cossio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alessandro Re
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Fulvio Fantino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Alessandro Lo Giudice
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandro Re.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

The EPJ Publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vaggelli, G., Es Sebar, L., Borghi, A. et al. Improvements to the analytical protocol of lapis lazuli provenance: First study on Myanmar rock samples. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 134, 104 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2019-12523-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2019-12523-4

Search

Navigation