The material of an item is crucial in determining its production era. For instance, if you see plastic, you can almost certainly confirm it's from the 20th century.
However, this method is not always accurate. For metals like copper, iron, or bronze, which have a long history of use by humans, it's difficult to judge the exact time period based solely on the material.
Of course, the proportion of various trace elements in the ores from different mines can sometimes help determine the origin of these items. Then, by knowing the operational time of those mines, one can make educated guesses.
But this method has significant limitations. If those mines haven't been discovered, it's challenging to determine the origins of the items, let alone their ages.
Thus, Liang En and his team were stuck again. They realized that unless they were extremely lucky and found similar recorded antiques, they wouldn't be able to make successful determinations.
However, this did not mean they were completely helpless. As they meticulously examined each metal piece, Liang En noticed some very faint marks on them, as if someone had engraved something on them.
Realizing this, Liang En immediately focused on these marks. Whether they were patterns or words, they could contain a lot of information, providing more clues.
According to their findings, six pieces of metal had scratches on them. However, due to the long time spent underwater, the scratches were so blurred that they were almost unreadable.
Fortunately, after a series of treatments and using a copper bell, a small can of camping liquefied gas, and three [Repair (N)] cards, Liang En finally managed to barely identify the contents engraved on the six pieces of metal.
Two of the copper ingots merely had scratches, which meant his previous efforts were in vain. But he couldn't have known this until he had thoroughly cleaned them.
The other four copper ingots clearly had some writing on them, a total of seven characters. These characters excited Liang En because they were the Linear A script he had found earlier.
These characters were likely used by the Minoan civilization on Crete, indicating that these copper pieces could be related to the early Minoan civilization.
Unfortunately, the characters were just numbers from the Minoan civilization, so they didn't provide much more information. However, Liang En did learn that there were at least 47 pieces in this batch, as the highest number on these copper pieces was 47.
To obtain further information, Liang En took these copper pieces to the National Museum of Ireland and used their equipment to conduct comprehensive tests and analyses.
Unfortunately, the tests did not yield much new information. The only confirmation was that the casting technology of these copper pieces was very primitive, with significant variations in zinc content among pieces from the same batch.
This indirectly suggested that the ancient brass smelters might not have fully mastered the techniques for casting brass, resulting in such unstable quality.
"Where did you get these items?" The museum's chief inspection consultant, Mr. Hack, asked Liang En when he went to retrieve the test report. "I believe these items have significant historical value."
"They were acquired from an auction. Based on my investigation, these items probably came from an illegal salvage operation in the eastern Mediterranean. Unfortunately, those people are now dead."
"That's indeed very unfortunate," Hack said, shaking his head with some regret. "Would you be willing to donate these copper pieces to the museum? You must understand their value—"
"Sorry, I can't." Liang En shrugged. "If I were to donate them, it should be to a Greek museum. Besides, I want to find out where these items originally came from."
"My apologies for being presumptuous. These relics indeed belong in their homeland," Hack quickly apologized, realizing his excitement had led him to speak out of turn.
"It's fine," Liang En replied, shaking his head. He understood that Hack's question was out of habit, not ill intent.
However, at this moment, Liang En suddenly thought of something. Clearing his throat, he looked at the middle-aged man and asked.
"By the way, you probably know that I previously collaborated with our local university on large-scale archaeological work at two Greek sites."
"Yes, we are aware of that."
Hack nodded with some regret. "Unfortunately, we didn't have much interaction, so we missed that opportunity."
"But now there's a new opportunity," Liang En said with a sly smile, knowing where he could find the funds and manpower needed for his next search.
"My alma mater is great, but its archaeology department is somewhat small. It's already at its limit with its resources spread across two sites."
"So, from the bottom of my heart, I hope that someone from Ireland can help with the new excavation work."
"I think our museum can take on this task," Hack said excitedly. "I'll go and apply to our director right away. If there are no unexpected issues, we will fully support your archaeological excavation."
"Why do you always need a bunch of assistants for your excavations?" Jeanne d'Arc asked curiously as they drove home. "I see that the great explorers of the early 20th century excavated sites by themselves."
"That's because it was the early 20th century," Liang En laughed. "But now it's the 21st century. The old methods no longer fit the current times."
"In those days, explorers could excavate recklessly, even digging trenches directly through ancient sites, destroying several layers of relics to find what they wanted. But that's no longer possible."
"With the advancement of times, archaeology has also made great progress, allowing us to obtain more accurate information from ancient sites. But this also means more funding and manpower are required."
"In this context, a single person privately handling all excavation work is not only legally challenging but also unnecessary. After all, people only remember the discoverer, not the excavators who follow."
"You have a point," Jeanne d'Arc nodded. "But have you pinpointed the location of these items yet?"
"Not yet," Liang En replied, looking a bit frustrated. "I thought I could locate the target using the current methods, but it seems I can only rely on special means now."
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