Secrets of artifacts unveiled by physics by Dr Philippe Walter

Date: Wednesday 23 June 2021
Time: 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Join the webinar titled Secrets of artifacts unveiled by physics by Dr Philippe Walter

Abstract

How is it possible to understand how an artifacts was made when it was discovered during an archaeological excavation and altered over time? The Materials science techniques provides us with information about structure and composition of these artefacts. But their precious character implies particular cautions and requires non-destructive testing, which may give the maximum of information directly on the surface of the objects, in-situ in the museums or in the archaeological sites. We will show two examples: the first will concern prehistoric music with the oldest seashell horn discovered in a cave in France and the second will deal with gold artifacts found in Greece and probably related with the myth of the Golden Fleece. The talk will be followed by a short presentation of the Master in Physics that Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi has recently launched to train specialists in the field of Non-Destructive Characterization with a focus on Cultural Heritage. A Q&A session will then be open, with Dr Philippe Walter, and Prof Frédéric Decremps, director of the Master in Physics at Sorbonne University.

Know more about the speaker

Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire d’archéologie moléculaire et structurale, LAMS, Paris, France
Philippe Walter is research director at CNRS and director of the Laboratory of Molecular and Structural Archeology at Sorbonne University. He was visiting professor at the Collège de France, holder of the annual chair on innovative technology. He is a specialist of chemical and physical analyses of paintings and of ancient artistic practices.