ITALY: Scientists work on a procedure that could create a sort of ID card for ceramic materials

Record ID: 644753

  • Title: ITALY: Scientists work on a procedure that could create a sort of ID card for ceramic materials
  • Date: 4th November 2009
  • Summary: FAENZA, ITALY (OCTOBER 16, 2009) (REUTERS) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR CERAMICS REPRODUCTION OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ARTIST LEONARDO DA VINCI'S VETRUVIAN MAN DETAIL OF LEONARDO DA VINCI'S VETRUVIAN MAN RESEARCHER MANAGING A CHEMICAL SOLUTION DROPS OF CHEMICAL SOLUTION PUT IN A DEVICE TO ANALYSE CERAMICS RESEARCHER WORKING INSIDE THE LABORATORY DUST OF CERAMIC BEING HEATED FIRE HEATING CERAMICS MACHINE TREATING CERAMICS FOR EXPERIMENTS RESEARCHER SETTING THE MACHINE RESEARCHER GOING TO HER WORKWEEKS RESEARCHER TAKING A SLIDE FOR ANALYSIS AT THE MICROSCOPE MICROSCOPE / CHIEF RESEARCHER BRUNO FABBRI WITH HIS ASSISTANT (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) CHIEF RESEARCHER BRUNO FABBRI SAYING: "Like archaeologists would say, ceramics are very important for the world of research, firstly because the man has been producing ceramics for at least 10,000 years and he still does it today. Secondly because ceramics can be found everywhere across the world, and finally, because they made of such resistant materials that have remained unchanged right up to the present. Only very few times, in my experience, it was not possible to use ceramics as documents for analysis. SCREEN SHOWING CERAMICS SEEN AT MICROSCOPE SLIDE UNDER MICROSCOPE'S LENS RESEARCHER AT THE MICROSCOPE CERAMICS SEEN THROUGH THE MICROSCOPE RESEARCHER SHOWING CERAMICS OUTCOME ON THE TV SCREEN (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) CHIEF RESEARCHER BRUNO FABBRI SAYING: "We try to build a sort of identity card of materials (ceramics) in order to compare them through their identity cards" RESEARCHER ASSISTANT WORKING AT THE COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING DETAILS OF CERAMIC DURING THE ANALYSIS VARIOUS OF RESEARCHER WORKING MORE OF SCREEN SHOWING CERAMICS DURING THE ANALYSIS RESEARCHER RESEARCHER PLACING PIECES OF CERAMICS IN A ROUND HOLED PLATE VARIOUS OF RESEARCHER USING INFRA-RED RAYS AS PART OF ANALYSIS OF OUTCOME OF TREATMENT PIECES OF CERAMIC UNDER INFRA-RED RAYS
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVAADO2LS80GXWUM4EXS5M0M9RHQ
  • Story Text: Italian scientists are studying many kinds of ceramic materials, from the oldest to the most recent productions, to reconstruct their origins and get back to the work-systems used by the ancient civilizations.
    Researchers from the Science and Technology Institute for Ceramic Materials based in Faenza, central Italy, believe that it is possible to establish information about either local or outside productions of ceramics by analysing their chemical composition.
    "...ceramics are very important for the world of research, firstly because man has been producing ceramics for at least 10,000 years,...secondly because ceramics can be found everywhere across the world, and finally, because they are made of such resistant materials that have remained unchanged right up to the present," said chief researcher Bruno Fabbri.
    Studies of ceramics have revealed a number of similarities and differences between peoples both in the production and the organization of the craft of their areas of origin.
    By means of special instruments and precise machines, Italian scientists are able to establish the kind of clay used in the work process and to build a sort of Identity Card of the material.
    "We try to build a sort of identity card of materials (ceramics) in order to compare them through their identity cards", Fabbri explained.
    By studying the constituent elements of ceramic materials it is possible to understand where they have been produced and especially in which way.
    Fabbri and his team have received several million euro in funding from across Europe in order to advance their research.
    Thanks to the cooperation with the Italian Institute for Africa and (Middle/Far) East, researches of Faenza are currently analysing ancient black ceramic dating back to a period between the VI and the III century B.C These ceramics, like many others, were found during a series of archaeological excavations in Nepal and their study is now expected to reveal the minerals that are present in the ceramic paste. Minerals will allow scientists to compare the nature of soil where they were found and, eventually, where the ceramics were produced.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register