ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | JULY 2026 16 Irrespective of the actual causes of these cracks and the repairs, the condition of the missorium mandates very careful handling, as stated for other cracked and embrittled artifacts[6]. Figures 2, 3, and 5 demonstrate that the missorium has been partially restored (no details available) and put on display with great care. DAMAGE ASSESSMENT Macrophotography is useful for noninvasively assessing the damage incurred to ancient valuable artifacts when scientific analyses are not permitted. However, this is possible only when noninvasive features and analyses of other objects can be cross-correlated with the macrophotographic assessments. A recent example is damage assessment for the high-status Enkomi cup[5]. This article uses the same approach in assessing typical and less usual damage to large silver dishes and plates from the late Roman and early Byzantine Empires; in particular, the deliberate pre-burial and long-term burial damage shown by the missorium. Annular SCC damage is a common feature leading to partial losses of silver from the artifacts. The prevalence of this type of damage is due to residual tensile stresses introduced by chasing tools while making decorative annular grooves[2]. As stated earlier, stress relief annealing was unknown in ancient times[5]. The missorium’s situation has been complicated by breakage into three pieces before burial. Over time in the ground, the strong local deformation at and near the edges of the breaks encouraged additional SCC, including a region of intersecting cracks that led to fragmentation, point C in Fig. 5, and some loss of material. Also, from close inspection of Fig. 2 it was observed that the annular crack, A, around the central medallion had linked up with cracks growing from the breaks on either side. Without careful (and unobtrusive) repair this linkage could have led to separation of the central piece into two, if it had not occurred already. DECORATIONS AND ICONOGRAPHY Figures 1 and 2 display examples of the decorations and iconography imparted to the large silver dishes and plates. The workmanship is renowned for high quality befitting such Fig. 2 — Intermediate photographic details of damage and repair to the missorium, including the deliberate folding and breakage. A: annular cracks and missing original strips. B: cracks nucleating from the folded and broken edges of the three pieces. C: intersecting cracks nucleating from the folded and broken edge of the central piece. D: restoration addition of an annular silver strip. Fig. 3 — Partial repair of the lower crack B and a view of the deliberate left-hand breakage. At this location the undecorated plate thickness is approximately 1 mm. Fig. 4 — Micro-faceted crack growth along part of the lower crack B. Fig. 5 — Intersecting pattern of cracks with filler material at location C.
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