arkeometri

Arkeometri, or archaeometry, is the application of scientific techniques to archaeological questions. It combines archaeology with physics, chemistry, geology, biology, and materials science to analyze artifacts, ecofacts, sites, and landscapes in order to establish chronology, provenance, function, and past environments. The field emerged in the 20th century as researchers began to use quantitative measurements to answer long-standing interpretive questions, especially after the development of radiocarbon dating in the 1940s and the growth of laboratory-based analyses.

Common methods include dating techniques such as radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Material characterization uses X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and metallurgical analysis. Isotopic analyses (stable isotopes like C, N, O, Sr, Pb) inform provenance, diet, and migration. Biomolecular approaches include ancient DNA, proteomics, and lipid residue analysis. Computational tools, statistics, and data integration support interpretation and modeling of results.

Arkeometri aims to answer questions about age, raw material sources, production techniques, trade and exchange networks, technological organization, and environmental conditions of past peoples. It is inherently interdisciplinary, relying on collaboration among archaeologists, physicists, chemists, geologists, biologists, and data scientists. Ethical considerations, selective sampling, calibration uncertainties, preservation biases, and the need for replication and transparent reporting are important aspects of the discipline.

Today, arkeometri remains a core component of modern archaeology, providing objective data to contextualize cultural changes and human–environment interactions across regions and periods.