Archaeological and Historical Pigments: A Unifying Framework for Delivering Relevant Chemical Content Utilizing an Interdisciplinary Approach

A growing number of chemistry educators at the college level are recognizing the merit in using principles and case studies from archaeology, art history, studio art, and art conservation science to engage their students and improve retention in the study of chemical concepts. We too have witnessed firsthand the advantages of this interdisciplinary approach and have recently designed a number of curricular materials centered on the synthesis and analysis of archaeological and historical pigments as a portion of a second-year, advanced chemistry course that, starting in the fall of 2020, replaced a traditional Advanced Placement Chemistry program at The Thacher School (a private, coeducational, residential high school of 260 students). We present and discuss herein multifaceted learning objectives and curricular materials in five broad yet overlapping content areas: 1) dating of natural pigments in early cave and rock art, 2) pigment synthesis experiments, 3) UV-Vis-NIR fiber optic spectroscopy measurements for the characterization of pigments and quantification of their colors, 4) fresco painting lime cycle chemical reactions, and 5) usage, as a chemistry instructional tool, of the Cultural Heritage Science Open Source (CHSOS) databases (diffuse UV-Vis-NIR reflectance, Raman scattering, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)). Utilizing case studies of familiar works of art, primary source archaeometry research papers, focused reading with discussion questions, quantitative problem sets, and traditional laboratory experiments, we demonstrate that significant portions of the content in a traditional high school advanced chemistry course or an introductory college-level general chemistry course can be adapted to this interdisciplinary approach, which utilizes materials of cultural heritage value to present and develop chemical concepts in a manner that is engaging, interesting, aesthetically appealing, and informative for both students and their instructors.