Analytica Chimica Acta 570 (2006) 34–40 Chemical imaging techniques for the analysis of complex mixtures: New application to the characterization of ritual matters on African wooden statuettes Vincent Mazel a , Pascale Richardin a,∗ , David Touboul b , Alain Brunelle b , Philippe Walter a , Olivier Lapr´ evote b a Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des mus´ ees de France (C2RMF), CNRS UMR 171, Palais du Louvre, Porte des Lions 14, quai Fran¸ cois Mitterrand, 75001 Paris, France b Laboratoire de Spectrom´ etrie de Masse, Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, CNRS UPR 2301, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France Received 23 January 2006; received in revised form 24 March 2006; accepted 27 March 2006 Available online 15 May 2006 Abstract Chemical imaging techniques, based on the combination of microscopy and spectroscopy, are well suited to study both the composition and the spatial organization of heterogeneous complex mixtures of organic and mineral matter. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF- SIMS), followed by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FTIR microscopy) have been applied to non-destructive analysis of micro-samplings of ritual matters deposited on the surface of African wooden statuettes. With a very careful preparation, using ultramicrotomy on embedded samples, it was possible to perform successively all the measurements on a single fragment. Comparison and superposition of the different chemical images, obtained on a sample from a significant actual artefact, have allowed us to identify minerals (clays, quartz and calcium carbonate), proteins, starch, urate salts and lipids and to map their spatial distribution. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Imaging techniques; Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS); Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX); Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FTIR microscopy); Cultural heritage; African art 1. Introduction The interest in African art is greater now than ever before. In France, one of the finest and the most important collection of African art will be displayed in the Mus´ ee du Quai Branly, Paris. African art objects are often used in the course of religious ritu- als and ceremonies to establish communication between human beings and the spiritual world. Stylistic and production tech- niques studies of these objects are very informative, because they allow learning the beliefs, values and customs of ancient cultures. Moreover, because of development of the African art market and consequently the increase of the objects cost, all scientific analyses which assure a better knowledge of mate- ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 1 40 20 24 65. E-mail address: pascale.richardin@culture.gouv.fr (P. Richardin). rials and processes, contribute to define objective authenticity criteria. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the potential of a combina- tion of non-destructive imaging techniques, time-of-flight sec- ondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), and Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FTIR microscopy) to identify and locate both organic and mineral compounds in micro-samplings from ritual material of African wooden art objects from the Dogon culture. The Dogon people are established along the Bandiagara escarpment in South-Eastern Mali, West Africa. After the first historic expedition by the French ethnologist Griaule [1], oth- ers have been carried out in the 20th century. During these field investigations, ritual objects have been collected, and consti- tute nowadays part of several museum collections [2,3]. Among these objects, the best known are the anthropomorphic wooden 0003-2670/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.aca.2006.03.111