Archaeometry

Archaeometry, also known as archaeological science, consists of the application of scientific techniques to the analysis of archaeological materials. Archaeometry has greatly influenced modern archaeology as it has the potential to revise the understanding of the past.It is the research area where methods from natural sciences are applied to solve archaeological and art-historical questions. It usually answers the following questions:

• What material is it?
• How the object constructed?
• Where is the raw material from?
• Is it authentic?
• Can it be dated?

In its broadest sense, archaeometry represents the interface between archaeology and the natural and physical sciences. This interdisciplinary field requires close collaboration between archaeologists, art historians, museum curators, and scientists who apply modern instrumental techniques to extract structural and compositional information from ancient materials. Applications range from archaeological fieldwork to conservation of museum objects and historic monuments. Archaeometry gives a fundamental contribution to solving the problems associated with conservation and restoration, as well as to the study itself of the cultural heritage. But in our opinion is the confidence that scientific methods are infallible in unmasking forgeries.
Modern chemical analysis offers numerous methods and measuring techniques which can be employed for archaeometric purposes. Considering the scientific word trends regarding the application of modern analytical techniques in the study of the artifacts in order to obtain complex information, we have presented our own experience in the field of archaeometry. The archaeometry department was created in order to conduct archaeological research on a broader scale. The laboratory offers a variety of analytical services with the hand-held XRF, RAMAN and FTIR which can be transferred at any site and analyze material without sampling.
Facilities And Instrumentation
The archaeometry department is uniquely capable of providing handheld nondestructive testing solutions for art and artifacts in the field, in the lab or on the museum wall. The laboratory is equipped with the following fully portable instruments:

• RAMAN Spectroscopy from DeltaNu
• XRF Analysis model Tracer III-SD manufactured by Bruker
• FTIR 4300 from Agilent Technologies
• Digital Microscope(X8000) by Navitar
• Spectrophotometer CM‐2600d by Minolta
• ISOSCOPE FMP30 by Fischer
• Durometer FL 2000 H by Bareiss

The capabilities of the instruments are:

• Fast, reliable, repeatable and non-destructive elemental analysis
• Accurate in situ quantification of light elements in soil and sediments

Archaeometrists have used a variety of methods to analyze artifacts, either to determine more about their composition, or to determine their provenance.