AIC's 46th Annual Meeting

This paper describes the scientific investigations of an Ancient Egyptian painted wooden coffin, dating back to late period (664-332 BC). The polychrome coffin was previously restored, and previous plaster fills obscured original surface. The focus of this study is to use a multi-analytical approach to map and identify the pigments used on a polychrome wooden coffin , as well as to provide a deeper understanding of the painting techniques, the condition of the object, identification of wood species, identification of insects founded inside coffin, previous conservation materials, ground layer and painted layer included in this study. Several analytical and observation methods were employed in the identification processes such as the Light optical microscopy (OM), X-ray fluorescence portable (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Moreover, the application of technical photography provided useful information about the spatial distribution of the surviving original pigments, in particular visible-induced luminescence, which played an important role to recognize spatial distribution of areas containing Egyptian blue, even if it is in traces or mixed with other pigments, the authors were significantly interested in mapping technical photography (TP) including IR false color with XRF results as a non destructive methods to identify coffin pigments. Red pigment identified as Cinnabar, and recorded as a rare pigment found in late period collections. Key words: painted wooden coffin; Multispectral imaging; XRF; wood identification; Cinnabar