4 CONCLUSIONS

1. Metallic elements detected on all colored silk fibers of the group of textiles studied were calcium, aluminum, iron, silicon, potassium.
2. Undyed silk showed the absence of aluminum and iron.
3. The metallic elements chromium, tin, copper, and zinc were absent from the silk fibers of the group of textiles studied.
4. Judgments as to the presence or absence of metallic elements as mordants were made by using sulfur as an internal standard.
5. This group of samples indicated a larger weight percent calcium than a group of modern undyed mordanted samples studied previously.
6. This group of samples indicated a lower weight percent sulfur than a group of modern undyed mordanted samples studied previously.
7. The data obtained do not permit the dating of the textiles; but the elements detected by EDS suggest mordanting materials consistent with those found on ancient textiles.