Department of Chemistry

Education

Analytical Chemistry

• BS, Thiel College, 1993
• Ph.D., Texas AM University, 1998

Interests and Expertise

My research interests involve the analysis of archaeological and historic cultural heritage materials, primarily utilizing direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometry. Current research projects include: collaborative studies with the Detroit Institute of Arts on characterizing organic colorants in dyes and pigments; radiocarbon dating and chemical analysis of rock paintings; and characterization of archaeological residues.
Visit the research group website.

Courses

• CHEM 381 and 481 Instrumental Analysis
• CHEM 281 Quantitative Analysis
• CHEM 121 and 122 General Chemistry
• CHEM 581 Advanced Analytical Chemistry
• CHEM 591 Special Topics: Archaeological Chemistry

Publications and Presentations

Books Co-Authored

• Archaeological Chemistry, 3rd edition. A. M. Pollard, C. Heron, and R. A. Armitage. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2016. ISBN 978-1-78262-426-4.

Books Edited

• Archaeological Chemistry VIII, ACS Symposium Series, Volume 1147, Completed Sept. 1, 2013. Senior editor, with J. H. Burton as co-editor.
• Collaborative Endeavors in the Chemical Analysis of Art and Cultural Heritage Materials, ACS Symposium Series, Volume 1103, 2012. Co-editor, with P. Lang as senior editor.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications (student coauthors underlined)

Invited Encyclopedia Entries

• Armitage, R. A. Chemistry in Archaeology. In The SAS Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences, Lopez Varela, S., Ed. Wiley: 2018.
• Armitage, R. A., Gas Chromatography. In Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology, Gilbert, A. S., Ed. Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht, 2017; pp 287-292

Journal Articles

• Armitage, R. A.; Jakes, K. A., Sequencing Analytical Methods for Small Sample Dating and Dye Identification of Textile Fibers: Application to a Fragment from Seip Mound Group, Ohio. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 2015, 20 (1), 1-15.
• Armitage, R. A.; Jakes, K. A.; Day, C. J., Direct Analysis in Real Time-Mass Spectroscopy for Identification of Red Dye Colorants in Paracas Necropolis Textiles [PDF]. Science and Technology in Archaeological Research 2015, 1 (2), STAR2015122054892315Y.0000000009.
• Armitage, R. A.; Day, C. J.; Jakes, K. A., Identification of Anthraquinone Dye Colorants in Red Fibers from an Ohio Hopewell Burial Mound by Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry [PDF]. Science and Technology in Archaeological Research 2015, 1 (2), STAR2015122054892315Y.0000000010.
• Baker, S.; Armitage, R.A. Cueva la Conga: First Karst Cave Archaeology in Nicaragua, Latin American Antiquity 24(3), 309–329, 2013.
• Fraser, D.F., Selvius DeRoo, C., Cody, R.B., and Armitage, R.A. Characterization of Blood in an Encrustation on an African Mask: Spectroscopic and Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometric Identification of Haem, Analyst, 138, 4470–4474, 2013. DOI:10.1039/C3AN00633F.
• Ruiz López, J. F., Hernanz, A., Armitage, R. A., Viñas, R., Gavira-Vallejo,J. M., Rowe, M.W., Rubio, A., Gavrilenko, E., and Guilderson, T. A. Calcium oxalate AMS 14C dating and chronology of post-Paleolithic rock paintings in the Iberian Peninsula. Two dates from Abrigo de los Oculados (Henarejos, Cuenca, Spain). J. Archaeol. Sci. 39(8), 2655–2667, 2012. DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2012.02.038.
• Selvius DeRoo, C., and Armitage, R.A. Direct Identification of Dyes in Textiles by Direct Analysis in Real Time-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry, Anal. Chem. 83 (18), 6924, 2011. (Letter) DOI: 10.1021/ac201747s.
• Livingston, A. J.; Robinson, E.; Armitage, R. A., THM-GC-MS Analysis of Rock Paintings from Casa de Las Golondrinas, Guatemala: Implications for Radiocarbon Dating, Int. J. Mass Spec. 284: 142–151, 2009.
• Fezzey, S.; Armitage, R. A., Pyrolysis GC/MS and THM-GC/MS Studies of a Black Coating from Little Lost River Cave, Idaho, J. Anal. App. Pyrolysis, 77: 102–110, 2006.
• Armitage, R. A.; Minc, L.; Hill, D. V.; Hurry, S. D., Characterization of Bricks and Tiles from the 17th-century Brick Chapel, St. Mary's City, Maryland, J. Archaeol. Sci., 33: 615–627, 2006.

Book Chapters

• Day, C. J.; Selvius DeRoo, C.; Armitage, R. A., Developing Direct Analysis in Real Time Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometric Methods for Identification of Organic Dyes in Historic Wool Textiles. In Archaeological Chemistry VIII, Armitage, R. A., Burton, J. H., Eds. American Chemical Society: 2013; Vol. 1147, in press.
• Fraser, D.; Kaktins, M.; Armitage, R. A., 18th-Century Glue Recipes: Towards Identifying Glue Residues from Ferry Farm, George Washington's Boyhood Home. In Archaeological Chemistry VIII, Armitage, R. A., Burton, J. H., Eds. American Chemical Society: 2013; Vol. 1147, in press.
• Dhakal, B.; Armitage, R. A., GC-MS Characterization of Carbohydrates in an Archaeological Use Residue: A Case Study from the Coahuila Desert. In Archaeological Chemistry VIII, Armitage, R. A., Burton, J. H., Eds. American Chemical Society: 2013; Vol. 1147, in press.
• Geiger, J.; Armitage, R. A.; Selvius DeRoo, C., Identification of Organic Dyes by Direct Analysis in Real Time-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry. In Collaborative Endeavors in the Chemical Analysis of Art and Cultural Heritage Materials, Lang, P. L.; Armitage, R. A., Eds. American Chemical Society: 2012; Vol. 1103, pp 123–129. DOI: 10.1021/bk-2012-1103.ch006
• Hopkins, J.; Armitage, R. A., Characterizing Organic Residues on Ceramics by Direct Analysis in Real Time Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry. In Collaborative Endeavors in the Chemical Analysis of Art and Cultural Heritage Materials, Lang, P. L.; Armitage, R. A., Eds. American Chemical Society: 2012; Vol. 1103, pp 131–142. DOI: 10.1021/bk-2012-1103.ch007
• Armitage, R. A.; Ellis, M. E.; Merrell, C., New Developments in the 'Nondestructive' Dating of Perishable Artifacts Using Plasma-Chemical Oxidation. In Collaborative Endeavors in the Chemical Analysis of Art and Cultural Heritage Materials, Lang, P. L.; Armitage, R. A., Eds. American Chemical Society: 2012; Vol. 1103, pp 143–154. DOI: 10.1021/bk-2012-1103.ch008
• Li, R.; Baker, S.; Selvius DeRoo, C.; Armitage, R. A., Characterization of the Binders and Pigments in the Rock Paintings of Cueva la Conga, Nicaragua. In Collaborative Endeavors in the Chemical Analysis of Art and Cultural Heritage Materials, Lang, P. L.; Armitage, R. A., Eds. American Chemical Society: 2012; Vol. 1103, pp 75–89. DOI: 10.1021/bk-2012-1103.ch004
• Fraser, D.; Armitage, R.A., Clinical Test Strips for Rapid Identification of Binder Materials in Rock Paintings. In Proceedings of the 37th International Symposium on Archaeometry, Turbanti-Memmi, I., Ed. Springer: Berlin, 2011; pp 205–210. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-14678-7_29.
• Perumplavil, R.; Armitage, R. A. Surface Analysis of a Black Deposit from Little Lost River Cave, Idaho. In Archaeological Chemistry: Analytical Techniques and Archaeological Interpretation; Glascock, M. D., Speakman, R. J., Popelka-Filcoff, R. S., Eds.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007, pp 152–166.
• Armitage, R. A.; Minc, L.; Hurry, S. D.; Doolin, M. Characterization of building materials from the brick chapel at Historic St. Mary's City. In Archaeological Chemistry: Analytical Techniques and Archaeological Interpretation; Glascock, M. D., Speakman, R. J., Popelka-Filcoff, R. S., Eds.; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2007, pp 364–375.

Grants, Honors and Awards

• Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Award, Research II, 2010

Professional Affiliations

• American Chemical Society, Archaeological Chemistry Subdivision
• Society for Archaeological Sciences, lifetime member
• MaSC
• Sigma Xi
• Phi Lambda Upsilon
• Society for American Archaeology, associate member