What is Archaeochemistry?
Archaeochemistry, as the ARCHEM project defines it, is the systematic study and interpretation of ancient material culture with the help of chemistry. First and foremost, it is an archaeological endeavor that seamlessly integrates the latest analytical chemistry techniques with traditional archaeological methods to answer specific questions of typological and spatial function. This, in our opinion, separates it from the simple characterization of artifacts using chemistry with little regard for broader archaeological questions, or a process we like to call archaeological chemistry.
What is ARCHEM?
The ARCHEM project seeks to advance archaeological research in the Eastern Mediterranean through the integrated, comprehensive, and non-destructive extraction of organic residues from artifacts for preservation and analysis. The resulting library of organic residues allows for selective qualitative and quantitative analyses to conduct archaeochemistry research tailored to specific questions of typological and spatial function.
