Correlation of the Composition of Metal and Patina in Bronze Rivets of a Leather Vessel from Kichigino-I

The paper investigates bronze rivets of a leather vessel from the burial ground of Kichigino-I. These products of a small size are intensively corroded, which makes it impossible to strip them down to metal. The study of the patinated surface was carried out by X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) of patina and relic metal by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of the analysis showed that the rivets were made of arsenic-tin bronzes with an admixture of lead. The patina qualitatively corresponds to the composition of the original metal, but has differences determined by the ratio of its components. Differences in quantitative ratios do not exceed 100% relative, the nature of the changes cannot be predicted. They can change both in the direction of increasing and decreasing the content of each of the minor components (arsenic, tin) in the patina. Comparison of the results of XRD and SEM showed that XRD reflects the composition of the parent metal with a certain accuracy, with a systematic overestimation of the contents of lead, tin, and arsenic.