ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Although archaeology is a historical discipline, in that its aim is to reconstruct events in the past, it is not the same as history. If history is reconstructing the past from written sources, then 99.9% of humanity s five million years or more of global evolution is beyond the reach of history. Even in historic times, where written records exist, there is still a distinctive role for archaeology. Documentary evidence often provides evidence for big events -famous people, battles and invasions, religious dogma, and the history of states but such written sources are inevitably biased. History is written by the 

---

S. Mirabaud, C. Rolando, M. Regert, Molecular criteria for discriminating adipose fat and milk from different species by nanoESI MS and MS/MS of their triacylglycerols application to archaeological remains, Analytical Chemistry, 79, 6182 6192 (2007). 

Pollard, A. M., C. M. Batt, B. Stern, and S. M. M. Young (2007), Analytical Chemistry in Archaeology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 

Vol. 54 Applied Infrared Spectroscopy Fundamentals, Techniques, and Analytical Problemsolving. By A. Lee Smith Vol. 55 Archaeological Chemistry. By Zvi Goffer... 

N. Gamier, C. Cren Olive, C. Rolando, M. Regert, Characterization of the archaeological beeswax by electron ionization and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, Analytical Chemistry, 74, 4868 4877 (2002). 

Hayek, E. W. H., Krenmayr, P., Lohninger, H., Jordis, U., Moche, W. and Sauter, F. (1990) Identification of archaeological and recent wood tar pitches using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and pattern recognition. Analytical Chemistry 62, 2038 2043. 

Stott, A. W. and Evershed, R. P. (1996) 813C analysis of cholesterol preserved in archaeological bones and teeth. Analytical Chemistry 68, 4402 4408. 

E. Darque Ceretti and M. Aucouturier, Secondary ion mass spectrometry. Application to archaeology and art objects, in Non destructive Analysis of Cultural Heritage Materials, K. Janssens and R. Van Grieken (eds), Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry XLII, Elsevier BV, Amsterdam, 2004, pp. 397 461. 

A wide range of other methods from analytical chemistry have been applied to archaeological samples, but space precludes detailed descriptions of them all. Some, such as XPS, have only been employed sporadically because of the specialized nature of the technique. Others are increasing in application as their archaeological potential is explored. One class of methods which has had some application are resonance techniques (e.g., Ewing, 1985 Chapter 13). These are based on another aspect of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic... 

Gratuze, B., Blet-Lemarquand, M. and Barrandon, J.N. (2001). Mass spectrometry with laser sampling a new tool to characterize archaeological materials. Journal of Radio analytical and Nuclear Chemistry 247 645-656. 

---