SPECTROSCOPIC AND MULTI-SPECTRAL IMAGING ANALYSIS FOR THE ON-SITE CHARACTERISATION OF EGYPTIAN PAINTED CARTONNAGES FROM THE AGA KHAN III NECROPOLIS, ASWAN (EGYPT)

The research displays some of the outcomes of the analytical investigation carried out at the Aga Khan III necropolis, in West Aswan (Egypt) in the scope of the EIMAWA mission (Egyptian-Italian Mission at West Aswan) during the MIASWAN (Mummies Investigations Anthropological & Scientific West Aswan) project. This research aims to highlight the importance of the use of light, portable and suitable analytical instruments when it comes to the extreme conditions on-site during investigations of archaeological findings. The study includes the preliminary assessment of the performance of the chosen analytical methods, the adaptation of the instruments’ accessories to the on-site measurements and some of the results obtained during the two measurement campaigns carried out so far. The analytical equipment consisted of a portable ATR-FTIR spectrometer, a colorimeter provided with a visible reflectance accessory, a USB microscope with a 5 Megapixels sensor and an optional polarising filter, and a multispectral camera supplied with several excitation sources and specific filters, including the possibility of taking VIL (Visible Induced Luminescence) photographs. Therefore, some unreleased images from several vibrantly painted cartonnages and small objects (Figure 1) will be shown together with the first analytical results coming from this unique archaeological excavation site.