Classification of papyrus fragments by chemometric analysis of near-infrared spectra.

Papyrus has been used for millennia to record information, for sophisticated works of art as well as mundane notes. The collection, identification, and translation of papyrus fragments therefore opens a gateway into the past. To aid the efforts to access the history recorded in papyri, we investigated the suitability of NIR spectroscopy to perform two tasks: One is to support the authentication of ancient papyri, by differentiation of papyri that were manufactured more recently and subjected to accelerated ageing to resemble the originals.