Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis

Archaeologists and conservation scientists apply a growing toolkit of non-destructive analytical methods—Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, hyperspectral imaging, and synchrotron radiation—to identify the materials and techniques embedded in paintings, ceramics, manuscripts, and other artifacts without damaging them. Understanding the composition of pigments, glass, or binding media can reveal trade routes, forgeries, the social organization of workshops, and the processes by which objects deteriorate over time. Researchers are currently pushing toward higher spatial resolution and greater sensitivity, with techniques like surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy enabling the detection of organic colorants present in vanishingly small quantities. An active challenge is integrating these heterogeneous datasets—spectroscopic, proteomic, and imaging—into coherent interpretive frameworks that are accessible to both scientists and the humanists who care most about what the objects mean.

Works

137,466

Total citations

525,451

Keywords

Raman SpectroscopyX-Ray FluorescenceHyperspectral ImagingArchaeological ScienceSurface-Enhanced Raman SpectroscopyPigment Analysis