Spectroscopic Analysis of Ancient Metals, Glass, and Pigments
This community applies non-destructive spectroscopic techniques to identify the chemical composition and manufacturing origins of archaeological artifacts. The work serves to authenticate objects, trace trade routes, and understand the technological capabilities of past civilizations without damaging the physical items.
The research focuses heavily on Raman and near-infrared spectroscopy, combined with machine learning and hyperspectral imaging. Common subjects include iron and bronze artifacts from the Iron and Bronze Ages, ancient glass beads, and wall paintings. Specific materials analyzed include copper alloys, lead white pigments, and silver objects. The methods aim to determine production techniques and geographic origins by analyzing chemical fingerprints in these historical materials.
The community’s output is most concentrated in research tracked for copper, representing 0.5% of all copper research, and lead, representing 0.4% of all lead research. It also contributes 0.4% of all iron research. These shares indicate the community is a specialized subset of broader elemental studies rather than the primary driver of research in these fields.
The community comprises 10,666 papers, published primarily in Spectrochimica Acta Part A, Applied Spectroscopy, and Archaeometry. Recent work continues to apply machine learning and hyperspectral imaging to heritage structures and mineral pigments, alongside studies on the manufacturing processes of ancient lacquerware and metal figurines.