Artefact Profiling

Research Field A

Written artefacts can tell us much more than what meets the eye. Apart from their written content or design, the materials used, and their great variety, they store a wealth of information – regarding production and preparatory treatment, writing practices, use and reuse, storage and deterioration, as well as possible traces of conserving intervention. The concept of material memory, which describes the stratified sum of these traces, tallies with recent developments in codicology under the term ‘stratigraphy’ (‘archaeology of the manuscript book’). Material analysis can uncover this wealth of information and shed light on the physical, chemical, and biological identity, provenance, and history of a written artefact by identifying its original and its acquired properties.

In ‘Artefact Profiling’ (RFA), we develop, implement, and assess novel chemical and physical methods to investigate organic/biological systems, e.g. via non-targeted panomic approaches, and inorganic ones, for example ancient Mesopotamian cylinder seals. Such technologies and experiments allow us to understand how and from which materials written artefacts have been produced, used, and altered in the course of time.

Many written artefacts are invaluable cultural assets whose examination is subject to high ethical standards. A central concern of RFA is therefore the development of non-invasive or minimally invasive methods of analysis that can nevertheless provide precise information about the material properties of written artefacts. By better understanding their materiality, we also help to better protect, store, and preserve fragile written artefacts and other cultural goods in the long term.

Often, written artefacts that are stored in a museum, library, or archive cannot be transported to other locations. They can therefore only be analysed using mobile analysis devices. In RFA, we have been developing new methods and tools that make such on-site analyses possible. Our Mobile Lab plays a central role here, as does the Container Lab, which was developed from scratch in RFA, including the design, construction, and first use in the field to analyse historical palm-leaf manuscripts in south-east India.

Together with the Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron (DESY), our local partner with a world-leading research infrastructure in the field of X-ray physics, we are carrying out several innovative pilot projects. One example of this is the development of ENCI, the world’s first mobile CT scanner to analyse cultural heritage objects in archives and museums. The device has been in use since 2023 and is currently being employed to read sealed cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia.    

Spokesperson: Markus Fischer