Archeologia e archeometria: conoscere e superare i limiti della “techné”

Based on the conceptual framework linking archaeology to the scientific applications to cultural heritage, the limits present in the relationship between these disciplines are outlined, encompassing curricular and speculative implications. From the practical point of view, several factors are often limiting the potential contribution of archaeometry to archaeological questions. Among these: the representativity of the analysed sample, the invasivity of the measurement, the detection limits, the significance of the measurement with respect to expectations, the probabilistic reliability of the experimental results.