Archaeological chemistry history

Perlman, I. (1984), Modem neutron activation analysis and ancient history, in Lambert, J. B. (ed.), Archaeological Chemistry, Advances in Chemistry Series, Vol. 3, ACS, Washington, DC, pp. 117-132. 

Caley, E.R. (1951). Early history and literature of archaeological chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education 28 64-66. 

Caley, E.R. (1967). Investigations on the origin and manufacture of orichalcum. In Archaeological Chemistry, ed. Levey, M., American Chemical Society, Division of the History of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 59- 74. 

Archaeological Chemistry— Exploring History WITH Chemistry... 

Archaeological Chemistry—Exploring History with Chemistry 165... 

Archaeological chemistry is just beginning to explore the life and death of ancient peoples and civilizations. This research opens a vast avenue to reach back into history and revisit the past. Further innovations, along with the ingenuity of researchers, will grant archaeologists an even better view of times long ago. 

T he Division of the History of Chemistry is honored to sponsor this Fifth Symposium on Archaeological Chemistry. Like its predecessors, it is the creation of its organizers, its chairman, and its participants, and we are grateful to those who have made this event possible. 

One of the main purposes of archaeological chemistry is to deduce history from the analysis and investigation of artifacts. Other major areas of importance include authenticity studies, identification of sources, deduction of production techniques, and dating. 

Having touched on some illustrative examples in the domain of archaeological chemistry, let us turn to the early developments of this field. Since I am no historian, I shall mention only some of the early, well known chemists who pioneered the scientific study of the past. My coverage of history thus will be far from complete for in this brief over-... 

There had been chemists in my family. My brother had studied chemistry before he had gotten interested in African birds and became a well-known ornithologist. He passed away a few years ago. My father was a chemical engineer. I started by studying archaeology and history and played a lot of music. Then I became interested in philosophy. I read Heidegger, Whitehead, and Bergson. There everywhere I encountered the problem of time. 

The third section of this chapter, A Brief History of Archaeological Chemistry, is intended to place the field in the context of its past. This history helps to better understand how such studies got to the place they are today and what is important and new in the field. The fourth and final section concerns Laboratories, the home bases of archaeological chemistry and the folks in white lab coats. We provide an impression of what such labs are like and how they are used. Within this section we offer a detailed description of our own home, the Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Let s get started. 

A brief history of archaeological chemistry is provided in order to give a sense... 

Bone tissue is created from the minerals and organic molecules that entered the body through drinking water and food and the chemistry of human bone holds information on the diet and life history of the deceased individual. Both the elemental and the isotopic composition of bone are important in studies concerned with dietary reconstruction. Elemental analyses focus on the mineral portion of bone, while isotopic studies are usually aimed at the organic part. Isotopic analyses are also used to study place of origin and past climate as recorded in tooth and bone. The role of archaeological chemistry in the study of prehistoric bones is discussed in further detail in Chap. 4 on Methods, and several examples are provided in Chap. 7, Environment and Diet. 

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