Effects of oxidative weathering on Raman spectra of charcoal and bone chars: consequences in archaeology and paleothermometry

International audienceChars are useful proxies in many disciplines such as the geosciences and archaeology. Raman spectrometry is frequently used in the characterization of such materials. However, when they are ancient and potentially altered, chars have the particularity of being oxidized, which can strongly disturb the spectra and seriously distort their interpretation. In this study, we highlight the Raman parameters affected by oxidative weathering based on comparisons between the spectra of experimental and ancient chars, of vegetal and animal origin. This makes it possible to differentiate betwee