Archaeophotonics: applications of laser spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of archaeological samples

Archaeophotonics refers to the application of light-based analytical techniques for archaeological analyses. Different spectroscopic techniques yield different kinds of information about the sample. LIBS gives elemental information about the sample while Raman spectroscopy is an excellent tool to understand the structural composition of the sample as a Raman spectrum is a molecular fingerprint of a species. LIF, on the other hand, makes it possible to analyze the samples based on their fluorescence emissions from them. This review explores the various possible manners in which these three techniques have been put to use for archaeological studies by different scientific groups across the world after discussing the salient features of these three techniques. It gives an overview of these three spectroscopic studies carried out on different kinds of archaeological samples like coins, meteorites, ceramics, biofacts, pigments etc. The specifications of the experimental setups used and the applicability of each technique on these different kinds of samples have been compared to clearly bring out the complementary nature of these techniques which also ultimately leads to the significance of the combined use of these techniques and throws light on the multimodal spectroscopic techniques used for archaeophotonics worldwide.