Multianalytical Study on the Comparative Physicochemical Characteristics of Pigment Materials in Various Cultural Heritage Artifacts from Pr

Indonesian cave paintings are some of the oldest in the world, dating back over 50,000 years. Like most of the world's rock art, they were created using natural red pigments. However, an interest in the nature of this pigment and its specific characteristics provides information about the cultural and technical practices of these ancient societies. Comparing the composition of these coloring matter on other objects or media in different archaeological contexts is both an archaeological and methodological challenge.
This project will look for clues in the coloring matter, drawing on the archaeometry skills of the Research Centre for Archaeometry (BRIN, Indonesia) and EDYTEM. Access to the ESRF ID13 beamline provides an opportunity to study the crystalline phases associated with iron oxides in samples from Indonesian archaeological sites. Only by using a very bright microbeam will it be possible to detect the characteristic indices that allow the staining materials to be compared.