Archaeometry in the Cultural Heritage Studies and Art (Definitions, Future Trends and Challenges)

Understanding and investigation of the principles, fundamentals, and the actions during the last century; following the emergence of the concept of “archaeometry” or “archaeological science”, that have encompassed the areas of cultural heritage, has have become a must for understanding the nature of scientific trends in archaeometry. Therefore, it is important to clarify the main definitions as the most important fundamental principles in conceptualization to create a common language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the origins of archaeometry by studying the approaches, areas, and boundaries of the related studies, to achieve the principles and basis of this scientific discipline. In Europe, archaeometric activities have been developed over the last century, with a focus on the topics and issues raised in the form of various interdisciplinary research approaches, and today, much of the research in this field of cultural heritage science is being conducted in an interdisciplinary approach, due to the variety of topics. According to a historical study of this interdisciplinary area of science, it can be said that archaeometry in the West has an archaeological origin and is related to the natural sciences. But in Iran, archaeometry was officially initiated under the domain of restoration of historical objects at the universities, began with the establishment of laboratories dedicated for archaeometrical studies in museums and research centers, and continued recently as an independent university discipline. Today, the most important axis of this scientific discipline includes: Characterization, Dating, Provenance, Authentication, Identification the objects application, Reconstruction of the ancient technologies, Science of conservation and restoration, Prospection & Remote sensing methods in archaeometry, Bioarchaeology, Geoarchaeology & Paleoclimatology, and Cyber-archaeology. The results of the investigations and studies realized in this research showed that due to the interdisciplinary nature of archaeometry in a discourse and research approach, it could not have a theoretical foundation. Meanwhile, understanding and adhering to the principles and foundations of the methodology of this interdisciplinary research approach in relation to the other sciences must be admitted. As if some rules and principles, such as the ethics in archaeometry, as a basic concern, have shaped the limitations and developed the archaeological methodological approach.