Welcome to the

University of Minnesota Archaeological Materials Infrared Spectra Library

This website contains IR spectra and associated images for a variety of archaeological materials relevant to lithic residue analysis. The spectra were obtained at several institutions using a variety of instruments (FTIR spectroscopy, FTIR microspectroscopy, and FTIR-ATR). Metadata such as instrument type are associated with each spectrum. The spectra are available to download free of charge; we request only that you acknowledge this library in your presentations and publications.

Instructions:

• To view all of the spectra included in Monnier et al. 2017, JAS and Monnier et al. 2017, JAMT: enter the keyword ‘JAS’ (without quotes) into the search box on the upper-left of the page, and click on the magnifying glass.
• To view all of the spectra assigned as FTIRM Reflectance standards: enter the keyword ‘Reflectance Standard’ (without quotes) into the search box on the upper-left of the page, and click on the magnifying glass.
• To view all of the records (spectra as well as images) pertaining to a residue type, simply enter the name of the residue in the search box and click on the magnifying glass.  For instance, if you type ‘blood’ (without quotes) in the search box, all 22 records in the database pertaining to blood will show up.

Downloading spectra:

In order to examine an item (an image or spectrum), click on the item’s title or thumbnail image.  This will open up the item with a larger image and associated meta-data.  To download a spectrum, simply click on the download button (it is an arrow pointing down), located below and to the left of the image of the spectrum.  This will enable you to download the original file in *.spa format.