Research

My research interests involve the analysis of archaeological and historic cultural heritage materials.  Current research projects include: collaborative studies with the Detroit Institute of Arts on characterizing organic colorants; radiocarbon dating and chemical analysis of rock paintings; and characterization of archaeological residues.

Courses Taught

Instrumental Analysis (Chem 481 and 381)
Quantitative Analysis (Chem 281)
General Chemistry (Chem 121, 122)
Advanced Analytical Chemistry (Chem 581)
Special Topics: Archaeological Chemistry (Chem 591)

Professional Affiliations

American Chemical Society, Division of the History of Chemistry, Archaeological Chemistry Subdivision
Sigma Xi
Society for Archaeological Sciences
Phi Lambda Upsilon

Publications

"Direct Identification of Dyes in Textiles by Direct Analysis in Real Time-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry" C. Selvius DeRoo and R.A. Armitage, Analytical Chemistry in press, August 2011.

"A Creative Scientific Inquiry Experience in Organic Chemistry and Quantitative Analysis: Pharmaceuticals in the River Raisin" R.A. Armitage, J. Bates, A. Flanagan Johnson, and H. Lindsay. In It's All in the Water: Studies of Materials and Conditions in Fresh and Salt Water Bodies, Benvenuto, M., Ed. American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, in press, 2011.

"Clinical Test Strips for Rapid Identification of Binder Materials in Rock Paintings" D. Fraser and R.A. Armitage. In Proceedings of the 37th International Symposium on Archaeometry, Turbanti- Memmi, I., Ed. Springer: Berlin, 2011; pp 205-210.

"THM-GC-MS Analysis of Rock Paintings from Casa de Las Golondrinas, Guatemala: Implications for Radiocarbon Dating" A. J. Livingston, E. Robinson, and R. A. Armitage Int. J. Mass Spec. 284 (2009): 142-151.

"Pyrolysis GC/MS and THM-GC/MS Studies of a Black Coating from Little Lost River Cave, Idaho" S. Fezzey and R. A. Armitage. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 77 (2006): 102-110.

"Characterization of Bricks and Tiles from the 17th-century Brick Chapel, St. Mary's City, Maryland" R. A. Armitage, L. Minc, D. V. Hill, and S. D. Hurry. Journal of Archaeological Science, 33 (2006): 615-627.