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Non-invasive characterization of ancient Indonesian Kris through neutron methods

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Abstract

This study focuses on a non-invasive characterization of a set of ancient kris by means of neutron imaging and diffraction methods. The kris (or keris) is an elongated dagger or short sword distinctive of Malaysia and Indonesia. Its complex structure results from the combination of several layers of iron, steel and sometimes iron–nickel alloy welded together in an intricate pattern that is brought out on the polished surface of the blade through the use of an etchant. Based on the tomographic analysis, four different structural arrangements were identified for the first time. Complementarily, the average quality of the ferrous materials used to produce the four kris was evaluated via time-of-flight neutron diffraction analysis. New details about the manufacturing process of a still little studied class of artefacts were derived from our investigation.

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Notes

  1. The word pamor is used indiscriminately to indicate both the mixture of alloys and the pattern obtained from the metal alloy decoration on the blade.

  2. Picit indicates the oldest (majapahit) type of kris with an iron figure for a hilt and thumb-like marks on the blade [20]. Here the words majapahit and picit probably refer exclusively to the stylistic features of the weapon and cannot be strictly related to a date of production.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge Dr. Giovanni Pratesi, Director of Museo di Storia Naturale, Sezione di Etnologia e Antropologia of Università di Firenze, for making the samples available for the analysis. This project has received funding from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under the NMI3-II Grant No. 283883. The Cooperation Agreement No. 06/20018 between CNR and STFC, concerning collaboration in scientific research at the spallation neutron source ISIS (UK) is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ACNS, ANSTO, Lucas Heights, NSW, Australia

    Filomena Salvemini

  2. IFAC, CNR, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

    Francesco Grazzi

  3. HZB, Berlin, Germany

    Nikolay Kardjilov & Ingo Manke

  4. ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, STFC, Didcot, UK

    Antonella Scherillo

  5. Museo di Storia Naturale, Sezione di Etnologia e Antropologia of Università di Firenze, Florence, Italy

    Maria Gloria Roselli

  6. ISC, CNR, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

    Marco Zoppi

Authors
  1. Filomena Salvemini
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  2. Francesco Grazzi
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  3. Nikolay Kardjilov
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  4. Ingo Manke
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  5. Antonella Scherillo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Filomena Salvemini.

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Appendix A

Appendix A

Preliminarily to the energy-selective tomography measurements, a radiographic energy scan was carried out to determine the optimal neutron wavelength for contrast enhancement in correspondence of the material Bragg edge for the phases of our interest.

Theoretical data, evaluated on the basis of the lattice parameter of the expected phases composing the sample, namely ferrite, taenite and kamacite (Table 4), were validated performing neutron radiography on all kris presented in the paper.

Table 4 The phases expected to constitute the kris are listed in the first column
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Several radiographies were carried out from 2.0 to 4.5 Å with a step of 0.02 Å. As it can be easily verified by looking at the values reported in the last column of Table 4, the crystalline structures for kamacite and ferrite are quite similar (Δλ ≅ 2–3 × 10−3 Å), resulting in an almost perfect superimposition of the expected Bragg edges. Theoretically, the position of the Bragg edges for a polycrystalline sample of taenite can be discriminated from those generated by a material of ferrite-kamacite composition. However, considered the wavelength resolution achievable with the current beam monochromatization device, the Bragg edges of ferrite, kamacite and taenite fall very close to each other and cannot be discriminated.

The typical ferrite Bragg-edge profile is the only one recognizable (Fig. 13) and two independent reconstructions were carried out above and below the 110 ferrite Bragg cut-off to enhance the contrast induced by the presence of this phase.

Fig. 13
figure 13

The figure reports the imaging transmission spectrum evaluated from the radiographic energy scan. The total neutron attenuation coefficient Σ (cm−1) is plotted along the y axis, while the x axis refers to the wavelength range (Å) of the radiographic scan. The profile shows the typical Bragg-edge profile of a polycrystalline ferrite sample. The sharp discontinuities that appear along the profile are mainly the result of coherent elastic scattering from the lattice planes of the irradiated sample. These are usually called ‘Bragg edges’. Described by the well-known Bragg law, an edge is formed when one family of lattice planes ceases to contribute to the scattering (at λ = 2d [Å]). Position, magnitude and broadening of the ‘edge’ can be related to properties such as lattice parameter, strain, grain size and texture, thus providing important information about the crystalline structure of the specimen. It should be pointed out that the weak edge observed at 2.64 Å is an artefact; this was verified by taking a stack-profile through an area outside the sample. The cause of the artefact is not clear. In the absence of further investigations, its origin might be speculatively attributed to some “contaminant” element along the neutron beam generating a spurious peak

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The computational tomographic reconstructions of kris K2 (Fig. 14), K3 (Fig. 15) and K4 (Fig. 16) are reported hereafter.

Fig. 14
figure 14

The white beam tomographic reconstruction is reported as reference in a. The cross sections obtained from the energy-selective tomography b are taken at different heights of the sample at the position indicated by the red line. Bright areas indicate the presence of ferrite, kamacite or taenite, dark regions stand for cementite-rich areas

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Fig. 15
figure 15

The white beam tomographic reconstruction is reported as reference in a. The energy-selective tomography shows a similar structure for all the kris; a soft steel was used for shaping the edge and the tip (bright area), while a hard core was inserted inside (dark areas), as visible from the cross sections of the energy-selective tomography reported in b

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Fig. 16
figure 16

The white beam tomographic reconstruction is reported as reference in a. Also Kris K4 was manufactured by assembling a “jacket” of low-carbon steel around a very hard steel composing the “core” of the sword as shown in the cross sections b of the energy-selective tomography

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  • K2: Inv 5143—kris of early majapahit shape, made in Semarang (Java Island)

  • K3: Inv. 5144—kris of early majapahit shape, made in Semarang

  • K4: Inv 5145—kris of majapahit picit shape, made in Ambon Island.

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Salvemini, F., Grazzi, F., Kardjilov, N. et al. Non-invasive characterization of ancient Indonesian Kris through neutron methods. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 135, 402 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00452-2

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