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Non-invasive investigations on Mesoamerican codices: the MOLAB approach

  • NON-DESTRUCTIVE TECHNIQUES FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE
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Abstract

The article illustrates the MOLAB research project devoted to the non-invasive investigation of pre-Hispanic and colonial Mesoamerican manuscripts. In the present paper, we provide a description of the project and its aims, listing the artworks so far investigated and describing analytical techniques we employed. A presentation of the data obtained by the scientific analyses is then followed by a description of the main cultural and historical interpretive venues that can be pursued through a strongly interdisciplinary approach such as the one adopted by the MOLAB.

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Notes

  1. For a synthesis of the history of scientific analyses carried out on Mesoamerican manuscripts, including specific bibliographic references, see Domenici and Dupey in press.

  2. For detailed presentations of the MOLAB campaign results and methods, see Buti et al. 2014, 2018; Domenici et al. 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019a, b, c; Grazia et al. 2019, 2020; Miliani et al. 2012a, b.

  3. The most accomplished comparison between scientific data and information recorded in historical sources, see Dupey 2015, 2017, 2018. For a history of the studies which tackled the use of colour on Mesoamerican manuscripts from a historical perspective, see Dupey and Domenici in press.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    D. Domenici

  2. Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università di Perugia, Perugia, Italy

    B. G. Brunetti

  3. Consorzio Interuniversitario per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM), Florence, Italy

    B. G. Brunetti

  4. Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Molecolari (ISTM), Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (CNR), Rome, Italy

    B. G. Brunetti

  5. Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale (ISPC), Naples, Italy

    C. Miliani

  6. Accademia dei Lincei, Rome, Italy

    A. Sgamellotti

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  1. D. Domenici
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  2. B. G. Brunetti
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  3. C. Miliani
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  4. A. Sgamellotti
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Correspondence to A. Sgamellotti.

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Domenici, D., Brunetti, B.G., Miliani, C. et al. Non-invasive investigations on Mesoamerican codices: the MOLAB approach. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 31, 773–778 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00916-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-020-00916-8

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