Mineralogical Approaches to Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Materials

Dear Colleagues,

In this Special Issue of Minerals, we would like to gather papers that show the potential of mineralogical studies (e.g., petrography, mineral geochemistry, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, spectroscopy) to approach the composition of a wide diversity of archaeological materials such as ceramics, metals, pigments, stone artifacts, and sediments. The main objective is to demonstrate that the mineralogical characterization of these artifacts is crucial to address aspects related to the origin of the raw materials used in their manufacture and the technological processes applied by craftspeople.

This Special Issue is wide open to all those researchers who want to delve into the role of mineralogical analyses in the characterization of materiality. Therefore, works that develop methodological approaches; compositional analysis of artifacts; studies of the physical properties provided by minerals; and, of course, studies focused on interpreting the social and symbolic roles that minerals play in both ancient and contemporary human societies will be welcome.

Prof. Dr. Adrián Durán Benito
Guest Editor

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