ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSES AND RESTORATION OF SILVER JEWELLERY FROM THE PUNIC NECROPOLIS OF THARROS – CAPO SAN MARCO (SARDINIA, ITALY)

The paper reports and discusses data from archaeometric analyses and restoration intervention carried out on an assemblage of silver jewellery pieces from the Punic Southern necropolis of Tharros – Capo San Marco (Sardinia, Italy), a site whose relevance is primarily linked to its stratification, extending from the Nuragic age to the Middle Ages. Belonging to a funerary equipment from a primary incineration tomb, confidently ascribable to 7th-6th century BCE, the jewels were found in a precarious state of conservation, extremely fragmented and, in some cases, held together by a surface alteration layer. High-resolution X-rays CT allowed gaining insights into working techniques and decorative features of the finds under study, whose legibility was severely compromised by the alteration layer. OM and SEM-EDS analyses were also performed, to achieve a more exact characterisation of the alteration products. Obtained data allowed, on the one hand, to establish possible contact with North Africa and, on the other hand, to carry out a meticulous restoration intervention, fully respecting the original integrity of the artefacts despite the precarious state of conservation.