Geomaterials and Geoarchaeology

The course aims to provide Ms students with cultural and technical basis to carry out research and professional activities in archaeological excavation projects, territorial reconnaissance, reconstruction of the formation processes of archaeological sites and for diagnostic and conservation activities of the archaeological cultural heritage based on mineralogical-petrographic analytical techniques.

At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to identify the best protocols to approach the study of archaeological sites and landscapes, to describe a stratigraphic sequence, to sample it correctly for laboratory analysis. They are also expected to acquire the ability to characterize natural or synthetic archaeological materials.

In particular, the following skills will be acquired:

- describe and understand sedimentary sequences and soil profiles of archaeological sites, exposed in excavations, assays and core sampling;

- analyze archaeological landscapes using appropriate cartography and remote sensing;

- select which laboratory analyses can be applied to archaeological sediments and soils;

- provide a description of the natural materials (minerals, rocks) and their synthetic counterparts (ceramics, ligands), along with pigments

- have a familiarity with the most common mineralogical-petrographic material characterization techniques