Advanced Materials for Heritage and Archaeology (Third Edition)

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue intends to provide an international, open-access forum for archeologists and scientists with different scientific backgrounds who share a common interest in developing and applying advanced materials and methods to archeology and heritage research, namely in the context of heritage science. Heritage science is an interdisciplinary research domain, which crosses over the arts, humanities and sciences to address the study of cultural heritage in terms of enhanced understanding and preservation, as well as sustainable use and management. Significant advances in heritage-related research come from the increasing contribution of scientific disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mechanics, engineering and computer science to the analysis and investigation of cultural heritage assets.

Throughout the years, many analytical techniques have been well developed for cultural heritage studies, and nowadays, a large spectrum of advanced technologies, especially material technologies, can be applied to archeology and heritage buildings. These technologies are able to respond to archeometric issues (e.g., dating, provenancing and attribution), as well as better understand material behavior under the exposure contexts, in order to support conservation interventions and preventive strategies. For example, a variety of spectroscopic techniques—e.g., Raman, X-ray fluorescence or absorption, high-resolution GC-MS, etc.—are applied at an increasing rate to investigate organic/inorganic materials of archeological objects or artworks like ceramics, potteries, glasses, organic and inorganic pigments and their degradation products, binding media, varnishes, conservation treatments, etc. Many of the current available analytical techniques allow investigations to be carried out non-destructive or micro-destructive ways, often allowing the digital mapping of the investigated parameters; they have also been implemented in portable configurations, making non-invasive investigations in situ possible. On the other hand, thanks to new material technologies, advanced coatings for the protection of stone materials have been developed.

We welcome the submission of original manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Investigation of raw materials and production methods of past technologies, such as ceramics, potteries, painted plasters and ancient marble artifacts, etc.;
• Characterization of building surface finishing levels or patinas;
• Analysis of residues in archeological remains;
• Advancement of non-destructive or micro-destructive material characterization techniques applied to a comprehensive analysis of cultural heritage materials such as stones, mortars and plasters, ancient ceramics, potteries, glasses and wall paintings;
• Integrated investigations and analyses of materials’ behavior in relation to aging and decay processes;
• Identification of surface conservation treatments used in past decades and their residual characteristics and performance;
• Heritage building protection to face climate changes and urban pollution effects.
• Research covering materials science or materials engineering aspects, including nanoscience and nanotechnology, for the development of new conservation products;
• Applications of innovative surface-coating materials, products for consolidation and restoration and their related issues;
• Understanding of the relationship between structure, properties and functions of materials to improve their performance in conservation actions.
• Monitoring of heritage buildings.

Dr. Angela Calia
Dr. Mariateresa Lettieri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• archeology and heritage buildings
• non-destructive or micro-destructive analysis of cultural heritage plasters, ceramics, potteries and glasses
• non-destructive techniques for surface characterization
• residue analysis
• investigation of raw materials and production methods of ancient technologies
• investigation of weathering effects
• material conservation technologies
• heritage building protection
• nanomaterials
• monitoring technologies