The nature of black stains in Lascaux Cave, France, as revealed by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Pedro M. Martin-Sanchez (1) , Santiago Sanchez-Cortes (1) , Eduardo López-Tobar (1) , Valme Jurado (1) , Fabiola Bastian (2) , Claude Alabouvette (2) , Cesareo Saiz-Jimenez (1)

1 CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain]
2 Agroécologie [Dijon]

We used surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to investigate the chemical composition of the black stains threatening the rock-art paintings of Lascaux Cave, Montignac, France. The stains are mainly composed of melanin from the fungus Ochroconis sp. and the faecal pellets of the collembolan Folsomia candida. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is a useful technique for revealing the structure of unknown macromolecules in cultural heritage research. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mots clés: rock-art paintings; black stains; melanins

Mots clés: SERS

Domaines: Ingénierie des aliments; Génie des procédés

Pedro M. Martin-Sanchez, Santiago Sanchez-Cortes, Eduardo López-Tobar, Valme Jurado, Fabiola Bastian, et al.. The nature of black stains in Lascaux Cave, France, as revealed by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 2012, 43 (3), pp.464 - 467. ⟨10.1002/jrs.3053⟩. ⟨hal-02643794⟩