Archaeological and conservation science
About the Lab
The IAA Analytical Lab is composed of highly motivated researchers from different areas of knowledge, with a common goal: to setup an analytical infrastructure that could bring a new approach into rescue excavations and promote a new field of heritage research in Israel. With that in mind, the Analytical Lab researchers have been working since 2018 towards acquiring state-of-art equipment for a mobile scientific laboratory, which promotes the material study of cultural heritage artifacts on-site, and to build up the scientific know-how in high resolution back in the lab. This has led to novel opportunities and fields of research that have allowed to foster activities of the Laboratory four main lines of research:
-
Archaeological Sciences approaches to Past Cultures
-
Science for the Arts
-
Science and Strategies for Heritage Science
-
Developing New Tools for Archaeological Sciences
The Stationary Lab
Our stationary lab is equipped with high resolution microscopes and spectrophotometers that enable chemical and mineralogical characterization:
-
SEM EDS Phenom XLG2 Desktop microscope with large sample holder (10 x 10 cm) equipped with EDS detector
-
Raman Horiba Scientific HE785 microscope with 785 nm laser (300 mw) equipped with fiber optics that allow tripod mobility
-
FTIR Thermal Nicolet iS5 in transmission mode and ATR
-
XRF Bruker Tracer 5i hand-held
-
POL Zeiss Axioscope 5
-
FORS ASD FieldSpec 4 Hi-Res
The Mobile On-Site Lab
Mobile Lab at Mikve Israel
The mobile lab is the first of its kind in Israel: a dedicated vehicle equipped with 3 work stations, a generator, water station and UPS allowing for independent work on-site. It's outfitted with:
-
FORS ASD FieldSpec 4 Hi-Res
-
FTIR Thermal Nicolet iS5 in transmission mode and ATR
-
XRF Bruker Tracer 5i hand-held
-
Motic BA310 Binocular Compound Microscope
-
Rockschmidt hammer N S/N
-
Dino-lite Edge LWD (long-working distance) digital microscope
