Re: The Vinland Map's Ink

Philip Deitiker wrote in message ...
>
>In sci.archaeology, David B created a message ID
>news:AU66e.17828$S9.9353@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
>
>> 3) Prankster scrubs (so vigorously that they become
>seriously frail),
>> polishes and prepares the removed pages, ready to be drawn
>on. In the
>> process, though the prankster doesn't realise it, one of the
>chemicals
>> which soaks into the parchment introduces serious carbon-14
>contamination
>
>Correction, if the prankster scrubs the pages as to make them
>frail, the chemical that was added was likely added to
>stabilize the pages or to increase their durability. Something
>like a diluted laquer, or opaque rubber, easily removed by
>alcohol.

My "scrubs, polishes and prepares" was a cautious (almost Eric-like)
statement designed to allow for the problem that (as I've ranted before)
our knowledge of the C14-rich chemical, first queried nearly 40 years ago,
has scarcely advanced at all since. In a sense, even I went too far,
because nobody has yet tried to establish specifically whether the chemical
was applied before the ink!

> Most washing chemicals are volatile, over time would have
>de-gassed into the atmosphere. Only compounds of longer chains
>and complex structure will end up persisting over many years.
> More than likely the scrubbing of the parchment resulted in
>an unacceptable texture and maliability that had to be
>corrected. The faker then took a number of 'plasticizing'
>agents or soluble polymers and tested them.

Yes, I think that's a pretty fair argument, so I'd be happy to move the
chemical application into the "preparation" phase of the parchment
treatment, rather than the washing.

>> 6) Prankster obtains some brown paint, and modifies it for
>use as a rather
>> thick ink
>
>Prackster takes some paint tint that is rich in TiO2 that you
>can buy at any paint store (which I have bought) and dilutes
>it to get the brownish tone he desired, he uses a wide brush
>to apply it to the parchment.

Again, I like that idea- it allows more latitude for the forger to muck up
the mixing, while still retaining the potential for a more chemically
complicated mix than one would expect a forger to bother with if working
absolutely from scratch.

>> 13) Because the second line looks, in many places, very
>obviously like a
>> second line, most of it is rubbed off, leaving only
>tantalising specks in
>> most areas, except where the register with the brown line
>was most accurate
>
>More than likely the faker did not count on the interaction
>that the soot and the chemical he added to the document
>followed by the application of the Ti02. The ti02 is a salty
>compound and the soot is hydrophobic, any moisture on the
>surface of the document, uncluding sweat or humidity from the
>hand may have repelled the black causing it to fall off or
>simply not bind well.

Now that's an interesting argument! One thing I've already asked Ken in
email is whether he knows of any electron microphotographs showing the
boundary between the yellow and black components of the ink. Sadly, he
doesn't, and he has pointed out that such a photo would require some
serious work to prepare the sample! If the black was applied with its own
binder after the brown was dry, I think your scenario would be less likely.


David B.


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