IRAMAT-CRP2A: Institute for Research on Archaeomaterials - Center for Research in Applied Physics in Archeology

Focuses of research & scientific skills

• Chronology, Referentials: Human Settlements and Paleo-environment
  • Chronology of human settlements and evolution of Paleolithic cultures in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the South American continent.
  • Reconstitution of the history of the Earth's magnetic field over the last 3 millennia by archaeomagnetic dating.
  • Methodological research in luminescence dating.
  • Construction of statistical tools for the processing of chronological data.

• From source to object: resources, diffusion, technique, alteration, conservation
  • Provenance and circulation of obsidian in the Mediterranean Basin and Transcaucasia.
  • Technological study of objects in copper alloys and production workshops from the Bronze Age to the Roman period.
  • Ceramic production: origin of materials and manufacturing technology.
  • Techniques and materials of medieval murals.
  • Paleolithic ochres in southern Africa: materials and functions.
  • Taphonomy of decorated caves: fire impacts in an underground environment, alteration of the walls

• Architecture of monumental buildings: History, Constructions, Materials, Art
  • Regional inventory and archaeological analysis of contemporary medieval monuments of the Gregorian reform (surveys, mortar analyzes, radiocarbon).
  • Building materials: origin, production, dating, use and re-use (stones, architectural terracotta, mortar)

• Economic and Monetary History