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Patrick Bowen, a senior majoring in materials science and engineering at Michigan Technological University, is refining a new way of dating ceramic artifacts that could one day shave thousands of dollars off the cost of doing archaeological research. Called rehydroxylation dating, the technique was recently developed by researchers at the University of Manchester and the University of Edinburgh. It takes advantage of ceramics' predictable tendency to bond chemically with water over time. ...First, dry the sample at 105 degrees Celcius. This removes any dampness that the ceramic might have absorbed. Then, weigh the sample and put it in a furnace...

Professor Zvi C. Koren has recently given a lecture entitled 'The Fashionable Colours of Antiquity Uncovered by Scientific Analyses' at Heritage Malta's Institute of Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage (ICMCH) in Bighi, Kalkara. Professor Koren's lecture was based upon the study of ancient colorants, which opens a historical window in the field of ancient technologies... The presentation discussed the various botanical and animal sources and the dyeing technologies associated with ancient colorants. The vegetal sources of dyestuffs that produce yellow, red and blue colours include amongst others, plant roots, leaves, flowers, tree bark and branches. These colours were also...

Fired clay ceramics start to react chemically with atmospheric moisture as soon as it is removed from the kiln. Researchers believe they can pinpoint the precise age of materials like brick, tile and pottery by calculating how much its weight has changed. The team from Edinburgh and Manchester universities hope the method will prove as significant as radiocarbon dating... Radiocarbon dating, used for bone or wood, cannot be used for ceramic material because it does not contain carbon... He and his team, from the universities of Edinburgh and Manchester and the Museum of London, were able to date brick samples...