Archaeological Materials Science

Syllabus The module on Properties of Materials aims at providing students with a detailed overview of the physical properties of parchment and leather; ceramics and faience; ores, metals and alloys; textile or paper fibres; and constituent materials in paint films – colouring materials and binding media. Lectures on Characterisation of Materials aim at providing students with a detailed overview of the principles and applications of several spectrometric methods. Students are introduced to the application of spectrometric techniques used for scientific investigation applied to archaeological area, i.e. ultra violet-visible and infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance and EPS spectroscopy, and proceed to interpretation of results.

There are no specific prerequisites

Teaching materials, including handouts, thematic websites and scientific articles will be distributed in class and posted on a dedicated Moodle page.

Time schedule - 15 weeks/6 h per week - general concepts: 16 h - deepening in the issues mentioned in the syllabus: 34 h - laboratory work in the methodologies mentioned in the syllabus: 40 h

Attendance is mandatory

final examination: written assignments with presentation in class

Time schedule - 15 weeks/6 h per week - general concepts: 16 h - deepening in the issues mentioned in the syllabus: 34 h - laboratory work in the methodologies mentioned in the syllabus: 40 h