Science and Archaeology of Materials

The identification of the animal species is an essential aspect of archaeological leather analysis. There are several routes now available for species  identification. One is to submit small samples for either ZooMS, a form of protein fingerprinting using mass spectroscopy or DNA analysis. When these are not feasible, the more traditional route is through a microscopic examination of the cellular structure of hair or skin. The analysis of hair is common to textile and fur research. The analysis of skin is particular to leather research and is based on a deep understanding of the fibrous structure of collagen viewed in cross section and the grain surface pattern of different species. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the value of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) as a digital imaging method for visualising leather grain surfaces and to assess its potential as an online tool for aiding species analysis of archaeological leather. Preliminary observations are reported here.