Materials characterization of historical structures: A review

The protection of historical artifacts that hold great significance in the fields of art, architecture, history, and culture ensures the preservation of cultural heritage and safeguards the shared past of humanity. Proper material selection and appropriate application methods are crucial for maintaining the aesthetic and structural integrity of historical structures and ensuring their transmission to future generations. Understanding the composition and properties of these materials is essential for making the right material choices in restoration processes. This study aims to provide a detailed evaluation of analytical methods used in the characterization of historical building materials and to synthesize the existing findings in the literature in a coherent manner. At the same time, it aims to provide a guide for researchers in the field in choosing the methodology by revealing the strengths and limitations of these techniques. Thus, it will contribute to the establishment of a data-based basis for future scientific studies. In this context, the objectives of the methods used to determine the properties of historical building materials, the processes of sampling and preparing materials for testing, the characteristics of the devices used in the tests, as well as the obtained analysis results and evaluations were reviewed.