Laboratories: archaeological studies

Hein, A., Tsolakidou, A., Iliopoulos, I., et al. (2002). Standardisation of elemental analytical techniques applied to provenance studies of archaeological ceramics an inter laboratory calibration study. Analyst 127 542-553. 

Recently it was possible to construct for archaeological studies a thermal gradient furnace similar to one used in the ceramic laboratories of the College of the Earth and Mineral Sciences of The Pennsylvania State University. Robert Frantz modified the design of the earlier furnace so that it would be suitable for testing archaeological clays and sherds that are available only in small quantities. 

This report has made a small beginning in rationalizing the results from different laboratories analyzing archaeological objects of metal. Even if it serves no other purpose, it clearly indicates that these analyses must be performed, reported, and interpreted with care if the results are to be valid in archaeological studies. 

National Science Foundation (46). Present at the discussions were representatives of the professional archaeological community in the United States, laboratory directors of a number of the laboratories involved in archaeological studies, and representatives of several accelerator facilities. 

The SAS exists to encourage interdisciplinaiy collaboration between archaeologists and colleagues in the natural sciences. SAS members are drawn from many disciplinary fields. However, they all share a common belief that natural science techniques and methods constitute an essential component of archaeological field and laboratory studies. 

Stevenson, C. M., J. J. Mazer, and B. E. Scheetz (1992), Laboratory obsidian hydration rates Theory, method, and application, in Shackley, S. (ed.), Method and Theory in Archaeological Volcanic Glass Studies, Plenum, New York, pp. 181-204. 

Whitbread, I. K. (1995), We are what we study Problems in communication and collaboration between ceramologists and archaeological scientists, in Lindahl A. and O. Stilborg (eds.), The Aim of Laboratory Analyses of Ceramic in Archaeology, Workshop Proc., KVHAA reprinted in Konferenser 34, 91-100. 

The development of scientific procedures that are able to use very minute samples (a few micrograms), together with the increased availability of advanced analytical instrumentation, have led to great interest in the chemical study of materials used in cultural heritage. This has given rise to a sharp increase in research studies at the interface between art, archaeology, chemistry and the material sciences. As a result, successful multidisciplinary collaborations have flourished among researchers in museums, conservation institutions, universities and scientific laboratories. 

Few, if any, studies appear to demonstrate the persistence of short-chain fatty acids in archaeological residues, either esterilied to glycerol or in the free state (see, however, Mirabaud et al., 2007). Short-term laboratory incubation experiments provide empirical data demonstrating the speed at which hydrolysis takes place (Dudd and Evershed, 1998 Dudd et al., 1998). Once released from the glycerol backbone, these fatty acids are both more soluble and thus... 

Traditionally, archaeological chemistry has been restricted almost en-tirely to the study of problems for which the only remaining evidence was the material to be analyzed. For example, earlier studies in our laboratory which provided results that allowed identification of the geological sources of Hopewell obsidian artifacts (I) are what could be called classical archaeological chemistry. Must we, however, restrict archaeological chemistry to periods and areas where artifacts are the chief sources of information and avoid problems of importance in more recent times simply because written records exist Clearly, the significance of the problem to be studied should be the criterion, and two of the three studies reported here indicate a close and productive interaction between... 

Table II shows, in some detail, the complexity and variability of the population involved in this study (laboratories analyzing archaeological materials) and of the reporting procedures. Even the elements analyzed by each laboratory are not completely clear. For example, laboratory 02 reported Cr in trace amounts (0.0001-0.001% ) in samples 1 and 2 but gave no report for sample 3 (the space is blank). Thus, we assume that they did not look for Cr in sample 3 although it seems equally likely that they looked for it and it was not present. The proper use of the term not detected, the consistent reporting of detection limits (done by few laboratories), and the choice of elements to be determined in archaeological bronzes are all open questions.

Many trace element studies of archaeological samples have used neutron activation analysis (NAA). Although this technique is not useful for all elements, it is very sensitive for many of those that have proved to be valuable indicators of geochemical processes (e.g., the rare earth elements). The precision of the actual measurements is usually high and easy to determine. Samples can be irradiated with little or no sample preparation, so there are few chances of contamination during the analysis. However, the limited number of nuclear reactors severely limits access to this type of analysis. When samples are sent to a distant laboratory for analysis, the critical interaction between archaeologist and analyst can be lost. 

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