14.9 ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES

An analytical technique is a method that is used to determine the value of a certain characteristic of the material, for example the amount of a chemical compound or the concentration of chemical elements. There is a wide variety of techniques used for analysis, from a simple analytical balance to very advanced techniques using highly specialized instrumentations. As an example, the most common techniques used in analytical chemistry are listed in Figure 14.1. The analytical techniques are characterized by their invasiveness, type of information supplied, physical state of the sample, being portable or not, resolution, how much sample it needs, expression of the result, what materials can be analyzed, costs of instrumentation and analysis. The contribution given by analytical investigation to the cultural heritage knowledge can be related to: - technological information, - provenance studies, - conservation and restoration, - dating or authentication of a finding. Some examples have been shown in the previous chapters