Burial environment and corrosion of iron artifacts excavated from Mukibanda archaeological remains

Mitsui, Seiichiro  

A number of ancient iron artifacts were excavated from Mukibanda archaeological remains in Tottori Prefecture. To obtain detailed information on corrosion state of the iron artifacts, we analysed corrosion depths with a X-ray Computer Tomography (X-ray CT) and corrosion products with a portable X-ray diffractometer equipped with X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRD/XRF). As reference information for relationship between corrosion and environmental conditions, we also measured some environmental parameters. As results, we found that the maximum corrosion rates evaluated from measured corrosion depths was smaller than the probe corrosion rate by one to two orders of magnitude. The results suggested that the corrosion products precipitated on the surface of the iron artifacts inhibited corrosion reaction.