is the study of past human societies through the analysis of material remains. The application of analytical chemistry to archaeological research has increased substantially over the last half-century and today represents a major methodological subfield within archaeological science. This review outlines the analytical methods that archaeologists have successfully incorporated into their research designs, stressing both major advances and necessary limitations that govern the suitability of particular techniques for specific research questions. The broad reviews and treatises of Seaborg,1 Rainey and Ralph,2 McGovern,3 Brothwell and Pollard,4 Pollard and Bray,5 Barnard and Eerkens,6 and Malainey7 provide the basic principles of analytical techniques and their practical application to archaeological research. The present review focuses on the specific challenges stemming from the analysis of rare and precious archaeological materials, the necessity of knowing the recovery context, including spatial location, time period, cultural associations, and the nature of other associated artifacts, for posing realistic research goals, and major breakthroughs in our understanding of human history that stem from interdisciplinary collaborations between archaeologists and analytical chemists.
