Geomaterials in Cultural Heritage

The scientific study of monuments, as well as objects from excavations and museums, deals with their origin, technique, age and conservation. Such topics were addressed during the
one-day topical symposium 'Geomaterials in Cultural Heritage' of the 32nd lntemational Geological Congress held in Florence on 20-28 August 2005. We bave edited this volume by assembling papers of participants of the Florence meeting, as well as invited contributions, to present a wide view of the interdisciplinary
application of geoscience disciplines, and to reaffirm the important contribution of geosciences to solve problems conceming the
study of complex materials such as minerals, rocks, glass, metals, mortar, plaster, slags and pottery. This interdisciplinary application of geosciences includes field geology, geophysics, microscopy, textural analysis, physical methods and geochemistry as fundamental support to disclose hidden information, retained by the ancient materials, such as the raw materials provenance, the firing technology, the ancient recipes and the alteration pathway. The volumeis dedicated to alI scholars eager to undertake or
to continue an exciting research activity.