著者

早川 泰弘 古庄 浩明 青木 繁夫 オタベック アリプトジャノフ

雑誌

保存科学 = Science for conservation

巻号頁・発行日

no.52, pp.59-70, 2013-03-26

---

Republic of Uzbekistan is located approximately in the center of Central Asia and has many cultural heritage sites along the ancient Silk Road. The largest museum in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, is The State Museum of History of Uzbekistan. The Museum, belonging to the Academy of Science of Uzbekistan, and the Japan Foundation have been promoting projects on the protection of cultural heritage and development of human resources in Uzbekistan since 2008. As part of these projects, the National Research Institute for Cultural Properties,Tokyo conducted lectures and practical investigation on the research of cultural property using a hand-held X-ray fluorescence spectrometer in The State Museum of History of Uzbekistan in September 2012. Material analysis was conducted of several statue objects excavated from Fayaztepa ruins (southern Uzbekistan,1th-4th century),fragments of wall paintings from Afrasiab ruins (Samarkand, 7th-8th century) and Varahsha ruins (Bukhara, 6th-7th century) that are on display in the Museum. Gypsum was primarily used in most of the objects for coloring white. However, lead white was found for coloring bright white in the fragments of wall paintings excavated from Afrasiab and Varahsha ruins. Red materials including four types were identified: iron oxide red, minium, cinnabar, and a combination of cinnabar and minium. It was found that yellow material was only yellow ochre. There were objects from which trace amount of arsenic was detected. These might be derived from realgar with orange color or orpiment with yellow color. Only lapis lazuli is found as blue coloring material. Black material was considered to be carbon black. Furthermore, it was found that high purity gold leaf was used for decorating the surface of statue objects. Green coloring material was not found among the objects investigated. The present investigation was performed on only a few objects collected in The State Museum of History of Uzbekistan. However, it is certain that useful information about coloring materials was obtained from the investigation using only X-ray fluorescence analysis. It is hoped that preservation of cultural heritage and development of human resources of Uzbekistan will progress well in the future. Furthermore, it is expected that scientific research for understanding materials and production techniques of objects will be carried out systematically, and data obtained accumulated steadily.