ABSTRACT
As a scholarly exploration of the residues of human cultures, archaeology has long been concerned with the specialist study of the material qualities of objects associated with the distant through contemporary past. Much of this literature has examined how a diverse range of 'raw' (or unmodified) materials (stone, clay, plant fibres, metals, minerals or bone) has become reworked, transformed and shaped into meaningful cultural objects. At the heart of these classic 'artefact studies,' we find a deep curiosity and detailed scientific appreciation of the intrinsic qualities of these material fabrics (Hurcombe 2007a). Such work draws from a multidisciplinary array of scientific research, with techniques adapted from: plant biology, zoology, biochemistry, genetics and haematology to help define organic components; mineralogy, geology and chemistry to identify inorganic elements and material processes of transformation; and physics, engineering and tribology (the science of 'wear') to characterize how objects are physically made, used and demolished over time.
