T10. Vibrational spectroscopy studies of geomaterials: case studies and new perspectives

The use of molecular vibrational spectroscopies (Raman and infrared) to investigate the materials constituting cultural and geo-heritage has gradually become widespread among the applied mineralogy and petrography scientific community, with the purpose of addressing a wide variety of archaeometric questions. The session is open to researchers from all fields of heritage sciences; it will highlight exceptional advances in methodologies and applications, which help in the interpretation, conservation and the fundamental knowledge of the cultural heritage. Diversified applications are known, from the exploratory investigations to authentication and provenance problems, to the study of alteration and degradation. Furthermore, the developing in the last decades of miniaturized components allowed the design of compact and transportable, to portable and handheld Raman and infrared instruments. This led to the possibility of moving the investigations from the laboratory directly to the sites of interest, such as museums, archaeological sites, geosites, and to the consequent advantage of performing non-invasive analyses, a vital requirement in cultural heritage field. This session can represent the occasion for discussion and update on the most recent applications of laboratory and in-situ Raman and infrared spectroscopies for the study of natural and artificial geomaterials in the cultural heritage field and for gemological purposes.