SEM-EDX at the Service of Archaeology to Unravel Historical Technology

Abstract

It is well known that there is a profitable cooperation between archaeology and the scientific disciplines of chemistry, geology, biology, and physics with the aim of producing better interpretations of archaeological materials. This field of science is known as archaeometry. Two main goals of archaeometry are to analyze and characterize historic objects to preserve them and to investigate the knowledge and skills required to fabricate them. This latter information is essential in the evaluation of cultural and technological aspects of past societies and to further understand the transference of technological knowledge through time periods and geographical contexts.