This workshop will bring together Swedish and international scholars in Heritage Science to share their experiences and findings through lectures and hands-on sessions.
In recent decades, the application of science and technology to address questions posed by archaeologists, conservators, and art historians has advanced significantly, giving rise to a new field within cultural heritage studies known as Heritage Science. This interdisciplinary field has also gained momentum in Sweden, with a growing number of research projects and publications. Developed over the past twenty years, Heritage Science has served as a bridge between conservation, art history, and scientific research, aiming to deepen our understanding of cultural and historical heritage through scientific methods and tools.
Although it is a relatively new discipline, Heritage Science remains in its early stages in Sweden. A limited number of institutions and experts have recently come together to form a network called Heritage Science Sweden, which holds regular meetings. This network focuses on the scientific analysis of archaeological materials and artworks to address questions rooted in the humanities while exploring opportunities for sharing research infrastructure. The growing interest among scholars from various disciplines reflects a broader commitment to analysing ancient and historical objects to gain a better understanding of material culture, technology, trade, and production practices in past societies.
This network program aims to establish a unique two-year research initiative for Heritage Science in Sweden by fostering collaboration with both national and international scholars and scientists. Many of these partners work in research environments with long-standing traditions in cultural heritage studies and have recently been actively exploring new possibilities in Heritage Science and Archaeological Science.
09:00-10:00: Registration and Coffee Break
First Day Lectures (Chair: Omid Oudbashi)
10:00-10:15: Welcome Lecture; Feras Hammami, Deputy Head of Department, Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
10:15-11:15: Geoarchaeology & Bicultural Heritage; Federica Salus, University of Gothenburg
11:15-11:45: Tracing the provenance of ancient lapis lazuli: established provenance markers and new perspectives from laser ablation and reflectance spectroscopy; Valessia Tango, University of Torino, Italy
11:45-13:30: Lunch Break
13:30-14:30: Applications of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) in heritage science: from degradation mechanisms to material development; Åke Henrik-Klemens, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
14:30-15:30: Integrating X-ray-based workflows into Heritage Science: Experiences from the Heritage Laboratory at the Swedish National Heritage Board; Silvia Bottura Scardina and Kaj Thuresson, Swedish National Heritage Board, Sweden (Online)
15:30-16:00: Coffee Break
16:00-17:00: Early Copper-Based and Silver Metallurgy in Western and Central Iran: An Overview; Nima Nezafati, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum / Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Second Day Lectures (Chair: Jan Pettersson)
09:00-10:00: What can archaeometry tell us about Urartian bronze craftsmanship in the Iron Age?; Ümit Güder, University of Hamburg, Germany
10:00-10:30: Chemometric-Assisted Portable and Non-Invasive Methods for the Preliminary Assessment of Archaeological Burnt Bones; Zohreh Chahardoli, Sweden
10:30-11:00: Coffee Break
11:00-12:00: First-Millennium BCE Glass from the Northern Black Sea Region: Interdisciplinary Approaches from Numbers to Knowledge; Monica Gulmini, Dmytro Nykonenko, and Oleh Yatsuk, University of Torino, Italy
12:00-13:00: Lunch Break
13:00-14:00: The Pigment Palette of the Ancient Painters: Recent Analytical Studies on the Achaemenid Painted Architectural Surfaces; Omid Oudbashi, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
If you are interested in registering and attending the event, please contact us by October 20, 2026, at the following email address: