Seminaire SOLEIL - Pr. POPELKA-FILCOFF - 21 juillet 14h - Amphi SOLEIL

Shining a Light on Indigenous Australian Cultural Pigments Using Synchrotron and Microscopy Approaches

Pr. Rachel POPELKA-FILCOFF

(Archaeological Science Laboratory, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia)

Invitée dans le cadre du projet DIM PAMIR « TraceRockArt »

Lundi 21 juillet 2025 – 14h00 - Amphithéâtre SOLEIL

Ochre and related mineral pigments offer a fascinating insight into our deep past to examine cultural exchange, provenance and connection to Country. Analysis of Indigenous Australian ochre pigments on a variety of cultural materials such as boomerangs, bark paintings and rock art, reveals its composition, structure, provenance and culturally influenced changes and movements. Recent archaeological science research at the University of Melbourne Archaeological Science Laboratory in collaboration with Indigenous partners includes novel analysis of pigments to answer questions about the provenance and origins of archaeological materials, exchange between groups in the archaeological past, colonial removal and movement of cultural heritage around the world as well as connections between current society and museum collections. Key case studies presented utilize synchrotron methods to non-destructively examine provenance and cultural alterations (X-ray fluorescence microscopy) and characterize chemical properties of unique native Australian organic binders (X-ray Raman and complementary laboratory-based techniques) among others.

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