02/14/2026
🔬 Investigating Ancient Craft Technologies through Digital Image Analysis
This research applies digital microscopy, image processing and machine learning to investigate the mesostructure of Sumerian bitumen-based composites from the site of Abu Tbeirah (southern Iraq).
The analytical approach allows the identification and quantification of internal features that are not visible to the naked eye, including:
• pore networks related to heating and re-melting processes
• vegetal fibres introduced to modify elasticity and workability
• mineral inclusions associated with mechanical performance, reuse and depositional context
These features function as technological markers, enabling the reconstruction of material recipes, production stages and functional uses, such as adhesives, waterproofing agents, coatings and recycled intermediate materials.
By focusing on internal structure rather than chemical composition alone, the study provides new insights into how materials were produced, transformed and reused in late third-millennium BCE Mesopotamia.
With Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi Abu Tbeirah - Iraqi-Italian Mission in Sumer Istituto Italiano di Studi Orientali The University of Melbourne
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X26000428?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=9cdf71bd3c625ab0
