Last Updated:
11/11/2022 - 11:32

Archaeometry, in general, involves dating of organic and inorganic materials, investigations of ancient and historical technology, provenance studies of artifacts (metal and non metals), geoarchaeological studies, prospection studies, studies of biological materials, conservation studies of artifacts in situ and in museums and applications of mathematical and statistical methods to archaeological materials.

Current research in Archaeometry program in METU covers most of the topics mentioned above (i.e; dating of inorganic materials, investigation of ancient and historical technology, geoarchaeological studies, provenance studies and conservation and restoration studies of artifacts in situ and in museums and so on).

Archaeometrical studies help to provide a universal chronology, origin of production and production technology of artifacts (information on where artifacts were made, how they were made and what they were used for). Archaeometrical studies also provide information on past landscapes, climates, flora and fauna as well as on man himself, information about the locations both of archaeological sites themselves and of buried features within these sites, information for full site evaluation prior to any planning application, information for decay processes and development of new methods of conservation.

Research Facilities and Laboratories

The archaeometry program is administered jointly by various departments of Faculties of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Architecture and Education of METU. The program is designed such that the students with social sciences background can learn scientific methods of natural and applied sciences applicable to archaeometry while the students with science and engineering backgrounds can be educated in the methods of archaeology.
Research facilities of the departments which are involved in archaeometry program are available. Some of these are: thin section, X - ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analyser, infrared, ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy, atomic absorption and atomic emission spectroscopy, gas chromotography and mass spectrometry, optically stimulated luminescence, and materials conservation laboratories.