Ricerc@Sapienza

Near-infrared (NIR) and X-ray fluorescence spectra were recorded for 15 different samples of marmora, from the Mediterranean Basin and of different colours. After appropriate pretreatment (SNV transform + second derivative), the results were subjected to principal component analysis (PCA) treatment with a view to differentiating them. The observed differences among the samples were chemically interpreted by highlighting the NIR wavelengths and minerals, respectively, contributing the most to the PCA models.

The possibility of using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) coupled to chemometric exploratory data processing in order to obtain a fast, cheap and nondestructive dating of human fossil bones is presented and discussed. The proposed approach has been applied to the differentiation of human fossil bones from two necropolises in the Middle Nile (Saggai and Geili).