ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO STUDIES OF RUPESTRES PIGMENTS: A REVIEW

Instrumental advances have been employed in the study of archeological remains such as prehistoric rupestrians paintings with the objective of chemically characterizing them in order to reconstruct the cultural technologies of a prehistoric human group and/or to support conservation science studies. The analytical techniques most commonly used in archaeometric research are non-destructive or semi-destructive and preferably portable to preserve the integrity of the rupestrians paintings. They include X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), and the many techniques with emerging applications such as Mössbauer Spectroscopy, X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structures (XANES), Particle Induced X-ray Emission Spectrometry (PIXE) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA ICP-MS). Therefore, this paper presents a review of the literature on the development of chemical strategies employed in the study of rock art, focusing mainly on the critical evaluation of analytical techniques used, limitations, challenges and the perspectives within this area of study.

仪器分析手段的进步已被应用于史前岩画等考古遗存的研究中，旨在对其进行化学表征，以复原史前人类群体的文化技术，或为保护科学研究提供支撑。考古分析研究中最常用的分析技术多为无损或半无损技术，且优先选用便携设备以保障岩画的完整性。此类技术包括X射线荧光光谱法（X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, XRF）、扫描电子显微镜-能谱仪联用技术（Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy, SEM/EDS）、拉曼光谱法、X射线衍射法（X-ray Diffraction, XRD）、傅里叶变换红外光谱法（Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, FTIR）、激光诱导击穿光谱法（Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, LIBS），以及诸多应用前景初显的新兴技术，如穆斯堡尔光谱法、X射线吸收近边结构谱（X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structures, XANES）、粒子诱导X射线发射光谱法（Particle Induced X-ray Emission Spectrometry, PIXE）与激光剥蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱法（Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, LA-ICP-MS）。为此，本文对岩画研究中所用化学分析策略的相关文献进行综述，重点围绕所用分析技术的批判性评价、其局限性、面临的挑战以及该研究领域的发展前景展开论述。