MOOC: Instrumental analysis of cultural heritage objects
1. Overview of materials and techniques
Before we can speak in detail about different analytical techniques, we have to speak about cultural heritage objects and materials of which they are made. On the other hand, there are many different analytical techniques, but not all of them are suitable for the analysis of cultural heritage objects.
This section is divided into three subsections:
The first subsection gives a general overview of the various materials that are most commonly encountered in cultural heritage objects and their chemical composition.
The second subsection addresses the topic of ageing of the materials. In most cases the composition of the cultural heritage objects that have preserved to our days is at least somewhat different (sometimes strongly different) from the original composition. Without knowing the chemistry of these materials and their behaviour during ageing it is impossible to understand and interpret the data obtained from the analytical techniques discussed in this online course.
The third subsection gives an introductory overview about the analytical techniques most commonly used for the analysis of cultural heritage materials and that will be discussed in detail later in this online course, classifying them according to the information that can be obtained.