ANCIENT AMULET EARLY EXAMPLE OF LOST-WAX CASTING


Via full-fi eld photoluminescence, an advanced technique with a synchotron beam, scientists discovered this item was likely produced via lost-wax casting.


How old is lost-wax casting? Pretty dang old.


In November 2016, the scientifi c journal Nature Communications had an item about a 6,000-year-old amulet discovered in Pakistan. Using full-


fi eld photoluminescence, an advanced technique with a synchotron beam, scientists discovered the item was likely produced via lost-wax casting. “It is not the most beautiful object, but still it holds so much history,” Mathieu Thoury, the paper’s lead author, told the Washington Post. “It


shows how the metalworkers at the time were so innovative and wanted to optimize and improve the technique.”


According to the Washington Post, the amulet was discovered around 35 years ago. 


56 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Jan/Feb 2017


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