Characterization of Archaeological Materials Employing Geochemical and Analytical Methods
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 27
Special Issue Editors
2. Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Valencia, Avenida de Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Interests: archaeological science; archaeometry; analytical chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: geology; cultural heritage; ancient material analyses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Collegaues,
Over the last few decades, there has been constant development of geochemical methods to characterise archaeological materials and potential sources due to the limitations of naked-eye observation, becoming a well-established practice in archaeological research, wherein the identification of archaeological artefacts’ raw material provenance is a key piece of evidence for better understanding the mobility of human groups in the past.
The geochemical identification and characterisation of raw materials and the connection between the materials and archaeological artefacts have been fundamental to reconstruct aspects such as settlement dynamics, exchanges and patterns of raw material exploitation, and manufacturing processes.
Spectroscopic techniques such as ultraviolet–visible and infrared spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction and fluorescence, and mass spectrometry, among others, have been significantly employed to study archaeological remains.
This Special Issue covers a wide range of destructive and non-destructive analytical techniques used for characterising and dating archaeological remains and raw materials and, therefore, attempting to study provenance, manufacturing, depositional, and material conservation and chronological questions.
We are also open to studies combining spectroscopic techniques and others, such as microscopic ones, and works cross-referencing analytical data and information derived via classic archaeological methods. Finally, manuscripts debating the development of innovative methodological approaches and the quality of the obtained data have a valuable importance in this collection.
Dr. Gianni Gallello
Prof. Dr. Marco Lezzerini
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2400 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.
Keywords
- chemical elements
- trace elements
- mineralogy
- petrology
- geochemistry
- archaeological materials
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