Cogent Arts & Humanities

Analytical Innovative and Non-Invasive Methodological Approaches in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

Cogent Arts & Humanities is pleased to welcome you to submit your research to the Article Collection "Analytical Innovative and Non-Invasive Methodological Approaches in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage".

Within the past decades, the use of analytical methods has dramatically increased as a complementary tool to answer relevant questions related to Archaeology and Cultural Heritage.
Recently, the development of non-invasive approaches for the study of ancient remains has become a primary objective among researchers. Furthermore, the introduction of portable devices and their optimisation have provided archaeologists with more affordable and versatile tools which can be used not only for routine laboratory analysis but can be also easily moved to perform in situ characterisation and monitoring of monuments, artworks and archaeological artefacts.

These innovative methods address several key challenges. First, they respond to the need to preserve the integrity of invaluable and often unique objects. Moreover, moving samples to perform laboratory analyses is not always possible due to conservation issues, technical difficulties or the size of the materials involved. Finally, these techniques offer significant advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness and time efficiency. Researchers can carry out initial screenings on large groups of materials in order to identify a subset of samples for following in-depth analyses, which can sometimes involve destructive methods. However, the quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) of the obtained data need to be improved due to the different instrumental characteristics of portable equipment and the increasing use of everyday objects like smartphones, which are being adopted as cheap and low-cost analytical devices.

This article collection aims to include works related to the most novel analytical strategies for the study of archaeological remains, with a particular focus on non-invasive approaches and on the use of portable equipment for direct analysis during fieldworks and in museum.

We encourage the submission of case studies, methodological papers and review articles.

Key subtopics involve the application of new archaeometric solutions on any organic and inorganic ancient material. Papers involving technical innovations or the use of alternative devices like digital cameras and smartphones as analytical tools, and their comparison with standardised and well-established methods are also particularly welcome.

Meet the Guest Advisors

Dr. Mirco Ramacciotti holds a Ph.D. in Archaeology. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Dep. of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History of the University of Valencia and visiting scholar at Archéosciences Bordeaux (UMR 6034). His research is focused on the use of archaeometric approaches for the study of Cultural Heritage, in particular lithic and lithoid materials. Recently, he has worked on the application of imaging-based methods for the characterisation of archaeological remains.

Dr. Gianni Gallello is a Distinguished Researcher at the University of Valencia (Spain), his research activity has been focused on the chemical analysis of different archaeological materials, testing new methodological approaches to overcome some of the most significant problems facing the archaeological community in the sphere of ancient human activity fingerprinted in the soil, post-mortem bone contaminations, lithic material origins, the raw material origins of mortar, provenance of ceramics and identification of organic materials in ancient objects. Gianni has a background in analytical chemistry and a wide range of practical and analytical skills acquired working across the disciplines of Archaeology, Biology and Geology.

The Guest Advisors declare no conflict of interest regarding this work.