Glasses and ceramics
X-ray absorption spectroscopy in cultural heritage research

Glass and ceramics are two of the oldest man-made materials. Ceramics, which comes from the Greek keramon meaning clay or crockery, is a term that designates both art and object. Considered to be one of the most important markers of archaeology, from the Paleolithic to the present day, ceramics are one of the most complex and extensively studied artefacts in this field. These pieces are composed of a clay matrix, non-plastic inclusions and a possible coating such as engobe, varnish, glaze, etc. Ceramological studies of these materials must therefore be varied in order to understand their technical history. While numerous physico-chemical studies have been carried out on the pastes and degreasing agents used in ceramics,...