The tests (published so far) do *not* indicate that the ink is ancient.
Stephen Goranson
[Duke University]
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GThomas, Sep 13, 2015
(from Jack Kilmon)
> What is the test used, or will be used, to test the age of the ink? C14 AMS?
As far as I can tell, Jack, it's what might be called a 'reflected-light test', certainly
not anything like c14 AMS that would involve taking a sample of the ink (as one
might suppose - and perhaps many have - just from the phrase 'ink test'). Not
that I have any expertise in this area, but wading through the technical details
that people who do have such expertise necessarily wallow in, I gather that this
kind of test can only determine what basic kind of ink it is, not what all of its
constituents are, nor their age, nor when the ink was prepared, nor when it was
applied. (If that's the case - and I would be happy to be corrected - the test has
enormous limitations not recognized by the public at large, nor even by Baden
and Moss.) The Krutzsch and Rabin article in NTS 61.3 is good on this, and
furthermore addresses the issue of why various disciplines are needed in the
determination of forgery:
http://www.gospel-thomas.net/JWF_NTS_Krutzsch.pdf
One quote relevant to your own ink-mixing experience:
"[The Yardley] study suggests that the inks based on lamp black can be
easily differentiated from each other, though it is not quite clear how the
ancient inks are differentiated from the modern ones produced by the
same method, i.e., how one identifies the age of the inks with the help
of Raman spectroscopy." (p.362)
Mike Grondin