ISL's Seminar by Mathieu THOURY - Auditorium

ISL's Seminar (hybrid mode: in-person/virtual) by Mathieu THOURY (IPANEMA - UVSQ, MCC, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay) on 15 March 2024 at 11am in the Auditorium of the Institut d'Optique Graduate School in Palaiseau, on the topic: «The specific characteristics of ancient materials in the light of their analyses by imaging approaches».

Abstract: "Ancient materials cover a wide range of compounds that make up the objects of cultural heritage, archaeology, paleontology and palao-environments. Their study is motivated both by the fact that they constitute material archives that provide a better understanding of the past, and by the fact that they are objects whose preservation over time is important for their transmission.
Their high degree of heterogeneity is both compositional, with materials that may be biological, mineral, metallic or hybrid, and also due to the transformations, of anthropic or natural origin, to which they have been subjected in the course of their use, or their interactions with their environment, conservation or burial, which makes them very difficult to reproduce. These specific properties have a major impact on the methodologies used to study them using imaging techniques such as synchrotron sources. With what probes, at what scales, with what sensitivity and using what markers is it possible to access relevant information associated with the historicity of these objects, and what analytical choices can be made to achieve this?
IPANEMA, in collaboration with a number of laboratories and heritage institutions, is developing methodological research aimed at implementing new photonic imaging techniques and optimised statistical processing for the study of heterogeneous systems, with the aim of identifying and exploiting markers of their physical and chemical history in order to gain a better understanding of their past (manufacture/synthesis, use and alteration) and anticipate their future evolution. The intersection of these studies, carried out for example on 20th century works of art, Mesopotamian archaeological artefacts and fossil specimens associated with the Permian/Triassic crisis, has also led to epistemological reflection on the experimental practices developed, as well as a reflective approach linking interdisciplinary practice, methodological developments and to study common properties to these systems. The aim of this presentation will be to present research work illustrating the reciprocal inspirations between the optimisation of novel imaging methods and the study of the multi-scale heterogeneity of specific ancient systems, in order to gain a better understanding of long-term alteration processes, the key stages in fossilisation trajectories, or exceptional conservation, with the aim of enriching our knowledge of the past."