One way to think about it is as a sub-field within archaeology, in which you deploy cutting-edge scientific methods derived from applied physics etc. to help with important questions of dating artifacts, sites etc.
There was an international symposium on archaeometry held in China in May 2005. It's actually the regular meeting of the international association on archaeometry so covers all fields not just or even mainly on China. Still, this may help you see what is currently done and to whom you might write for more information.
Link here:
http://www.archaeometry.ustc.edu.cn/Best, Richard
I am pasting their schedule containing information on the presentations/presenters below:
Program
Poster Session I: session 2, 3, 5
Poster Session II: session 1, 4, 6
10th of May, Tuesday
8:00-23:00 Registration at Taishan Hotel, Beijing
No. 8,An Ning Bei Li,Xi San Qi,Hai Dian District, Beijing, China
Tel: 86-010-62919988, 62912801
Fax: 86-010-62911066
Contactors: Jian Zhu, 13126910019
Rui Wen, 13965131380
Zhengquan Yao, 13855109826
11th of May, Wednesday International Congress Center in Taishan Hotel
9:00 Opening Ceremony
Master of ceremonies: Prof. Yong Deng
Secretary of the Party committee of Graduate School, CAS
Introduce honored guests
Prof. Chunli Bai, Executive vice-President of CAS, and President
of Graduate School, CAS, delivers an opening speech
Prof. Jixiang Shan, Minister of National Cultural Relics Bureau,
makes an address
Prof. Yannis Maniatis, Chairman of the Standing Committee of International Symposium on Archaeometry, makes an address
Prof. Tsun Ko(Jun Ke), PhD, DEng, DSc, DUniv h.c,
Senior Member of CAS, makes an address
Announce the Congratulation from Prof. Dr-Ing. Yongxiang Lu,
Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China and President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
9:30
Taking the Symposium picture
9:50 Coffee Break
Session: Technology and Provenance Ⅰ(stone, plaster and pigments)
(10:20—12:00)
Convenors: Michael Tite and M. Uda
10:20 The Neolithic and Bronze Age “Trade” of Marble in the Aegean: a Review
Y. Maniatis
10:40 Byzantine Icon Pigment Identification by Fiber Optics Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy: Potential and Limitations
Kyriaki Polikreti, Costantinos Christofides
11:00 Archaeometric Relative Reconstruction of the Constructive Phases in Historical and Archaeological Buildings by Compositional Analysis of Mortars
Crisci G.M.; Miriello D., Gattuso C.
11:20 The Scientific Research and Conservation of the Pigments in the Tang-Murals
Qunxi Zhang
11:40 The Need for Contextual Approaches to the Mineralogical Examination and Sourcing of Early Chinese Jades
Zhichun Jing
12:00 Lunch
14:00 Session: Technology and provenance Ⅲ (metals )
(14:00—18:10)
Convenors: Jianjun Mei and Soodabeh Durali-Mueller
14:00 Casting Technology of Dongson Bronze Vessels
Peter Meyers
14:20 The Trace Elements in Ancient Chinese Copper-Based Coinage Issues
Weirong Zhou
14:40 Patina Analysis of Brass Objects
Robert A., Neunteufel
14:00 The Metallurgy and Metalworking in East Eurasian Steppes and China in the Bronze Age
Elena Efimovna Kuzmina
15:20 Technical Study of Life-Size Bronze Sculptures from the Mausoleum of the First Chinese Emperor
15:40 Broschat, Katja, -Eckmann, Christian, Greiff, Susanne, -Herz, Uwe, -Yang Junchang , Fiedler, Irene, Yin Shenping
Coffee Break
Convenors: Peter Mayers and Weirong Zhou
16:10 In Situ Investigation of Gilded Bronze Statue ( 8 A.D.) using Portable X-ray Diffractometer Equipped with XRF
M. Uda, A. Ishizaki, R. Satoh, K. Okada, D. Yamashita, Y. Nakajima,
K. Ohashi, Y. Sakuraba, A. Shimono, D. Kojima
16:30 Lead Isotopic Analysis of Early Copper and Bronze Objects from Xinjiang, Northwest China
J. Mei, Y. Hirao, G. Liu, E. L, X. Chang, S. Takahama
16:50 The Discovery of Anomalously High Ag Abundances in Pottery Excavated in Jerusalem
David Adan-Bayewitz, Frank Asaro, Robert D. Giauque
17:10 Corrosion of The Wu State’s Bronze Weapons and Free Copper
Ying Jia, Rongyu Su
17:30 Tartessian Metallurgy
Hunt-Ortiz
17:50 Investigation of Deterioration of Archaeological Iron in The British Museum Collection
Quanyu Wang
18:30 Welcome reception at the Restaurant of the Taishan Hotel
12th of May, Thursday
Session: Technology and Provenance for Ceramics and Glass
(8:30—12:10)
Convenors: Tiemei Chen and Mark Pollard
8:30 A technological examination of two Abbasid blue-and-white shards from
Iraq, and their comparison with Chinese blue-and-white wares of the 8th - 9th Cs AD.
Nigel David Wood, Michael Tite, Chris Doherty
8:50 Cluster and Visual Analyses of Data Generated by Rapid INAA of Ceramics from North Western Jordan
A. Manson, R..G..V. Hancock
9:10 Application of Nuclear Microprobe Analytical Technique in Chinese Ancient Porcelain
Songling Feng, Xiangqian Feng, Lin Cheng, Yong Lei, Yanqing Wang, Qing Xu
9:30
Some Ceramic Slips Produced in the Roman in the Roman Period (1st-2nd Century AD) in Spain: Their Nature and Characteristics
Josefina Pérez-Arantegui, Gemma Cepriá, Judit Molera
9:50 The Comparison Study of Crystal and Phase Separation in Ru Ware and Jun Ware
Yimin Yang, Zhenwei Mao, Min Feng, Changsui Wang
10:10 Provenance Study On Tang Sancai by INAA
Yong Lei
10:30 Coffee Break
Convenors: Pamela Vandiver and Songlin Feng
10:50 Mycenaean pottery from Tell Kazel (Syria) – Provenance Determination by Neutron Activation Analysis
H. Mommsen, L. Badre, R. Jung
11:10 Shell-Tempered Pottery of Russian Far East: Technological and Cultural Phenomenon
Irina Zhushchikhovskaya
11:30 The Source of 16th and 17th Century Glass in Northern Europe: A New Analytical Perspective Using Epma, ICP-OES, ICP-MS and TIMS.
J.Henderson, T. Brown, P. Degreyse, J. Gawronski
11:50 Evidence for Ancient Glass ‘Recycling’ Using Pb and Sr Isotope Ratios and Sr-Mixing Lines
P. Degryse, J. Schneider, V. Lauwers, M. Waelkens, U. Haack , Ph. Muchez
12:10 Lunch
13:30 Poster Session I
Sessions 2, 3, 5
15:30 Session: Biomaterials
(15:30—18:50)
Convenors: James H. Burton and Xiaohong Wu
15:30
Evolutionary Palaeogenetics
Joachim Burger, Ruth Bollongino
15:50 Novel Lipid Biomarker and Stable Carbon Isotope Evidence For the Processing of Marine Products in Pottery Vessels
Evershed, R.P,Copley, M.S., Hansel, F.A, Dickinson, L., Madureira, L.A.S., Sadr, K., Fossari, T.D
16:10 The Contribution of Bone Chemistry Studies to Reconstructing Ancient Diets on the Inca Frontier: New Data from Coastal, Inland, and Andean Highland sites in Chile and Argentina
Robert H. Tykot, E. Aspillaga, F. Falabella, A. Gil, J. Gomez-Otero, G. Politis
16:30 Determination of the geographic origins of humans in ancient Mesoamerica
T. Douglas Price, James H. Burton, Vera Tiesler, Leticia Brito
16:50 Coffee Break
Convenors: H. Kars and Joachim Burger
17:10 Exploring the Dietary Isotope Signal of Bone Cholesterol in Large
Omnivorous Mammals
L.T. Corr, S.M.M. Young, N.J. van der Merwe, A. Mitchell, R.P. Evershed
17:30 Hydrogen Isotopic Composition Of N-Alkanes From Leaf Waxes: An Empirical Evaluation of Environmental Controls
N. Pedentchouk, M. Pagani
17:50 Biomolecules and Isotopic Signals for Archeologists
Hong Yang
18:10 Phytolith Evidence for Rice Cultivation at Liangchengzhen Site, Eastern China
GuiYun Jin , FengShi Luan, HaiGuang Yu, Hui Fang, Anne P. Underhill
18:30 Stable Isotopic Analysis of Human Bones from Jiahu, Henan, China: Implications for the Origin of Agriculture
Yaowu Hu, Stanley H. Ambrose, Changsui Wang
19:00 Supper
Friday, 13th of May
Session: Archaeology and Archaeometry in China
(8:30—12:00)
Convenors: Y. Maniatis and Richard P. Evershed
8:30 The History of Castiron-Steelwork Making in China and its Cultural Impacts Archaeometrically Told
Tsun Ko(Jun Ke)
9:00 Environmental Remote Sensing Information Technology in
Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Conservation
Shupeng Chen and Changlin Wang
9:30 Geoarchaeology of the Huan River Valley
George Rapp, Zhichun Jing, Jigen Tang
10:00 Coffee Break
Convenors: G. A. Wagner and J. -F. Moreau
10:30 The Establishment of the "Xia-Shang-Zhou" Chronology Table
Shihua Qiu and Tiemei Chen etc.
11:00 Some Important Topics on Archaeometry for Chinese Ceramics
Changsui Wang
11:30 Environmental Archaeology in China
Zhengkai Xia and Xiaoyan Yang
12:00 Lunch
13:30 Poster Session II
Sessions 1, 4, 6
15:30 Session: Field archaeology and environmental archaeology
(15:30—17:30)
Convenors: Gino Mirocle Crisci and Weili Qiu
15:30 Past Review and Future Potential of Archaeological Survey at the Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shihuang in China: Comparing Geophysical Survey Methods in Britain
Xiuzhen Li
15:50 Contribution of Geophysical Measurements in Combination of More Field Methods of Archaeological Prospection
Roman Křivánek
16:10 Chemical Analysis of Anthropogenic Sediments at the Longshan period settlement of Lianchengzhen, Shandong, China
William D. Middleton, Anne Underhill, Luan Fengshi, Fang Hui,
Yu Haiguang,Cai Fengshu
16:30 GIS-Based the Research of Regional Archaeology in China
Jianguo Liu
16:50
A GIS approach to analysis of soil resources of the ancient Maya in the Petexbatun Region of Guatemala
David R.. Wright
17:10 The Estimated“Observatory” At Taosi Walled –Town In Xiangfen, Shanxi, China
He Nu
17:30 Coffee Break
Session: Biomaterials
(17:50—19:10)
Convenors: Robert H. Tykot and Hans Postma
17:50 The Emergence and Spread of Dairying in Southeast Europe and the Near East
M.S. Copley ,R.P. Evershed; J. Coolidge; D. Urem-Kotsou , A. Sherratt
18:10 Cattle Breeding in Sweden During the Middle Ages
Emma Svensson
18:30
A Study of the Colouring Technology in the 9th-10th C.C. Red Chinese Paper from Dunhuang Cave
Valery Golikov
18:50 Formulation of a Roman Cosmetic
R. P. Evershed, R. Berstan, F. Grew, M. S. Copley, A. J. H. Charmant,
E. Barham,H. Mottram , G. Brown,
19:10 Supper
14th of May, Saturday
Visit to the Imperial Palace etc. in Beijing
15th of May, Sunday
Session: Dating
(8:30—9:50)
Convenors: Greg Hodgins and Xuelian Zhang
8:30 Spatially resolved luminescence dating – A new technique and its application to the Nasca geoglyphs at Palpa / Peru
S. Greilich, U. A. Glasmacher, G. A. Wagner
8:50 Analysis on 14C Dates of Zhengzhou Shang City and Yanshi Shang City
Xuelian Zhang, Shihua Qiu, Lianzhen Cai
9:10 AMS-14C Dating to Iron Artifacts and the Origin of Chinese Iron Smelting Technology
Jianli Chen, Xiaohong Wu
9:30 Radiofluorescence Dating of Palaeolithic Sites
M.R. Krbetschek , D. Degering
9:50 Coffee Break
10:10 Session: Technology and Provenance for Ceramics and Glass
(10:10—12:20)
Convenors: Rob Hancock and Alix Barbet
10:10 The Production Technology of Lead Glazes in the West and East
M.Walton, Michael Tite
10:30 Study on Hongzhou Kiln Porcelains by INAA
Xiangqian Feng, Songlin Feng , Zhifang Chai , Changsheng Fan , Wenjiang Zhang , KuiShan Quan
10:50 Neolithic Pottery from Swtzerland: Raw Materials and Manufacturing Processes
Marino Alfredo Maggetti
11:10
The Research on the Alteration Process of the Ancient Jade in Lingjiatan Site
Min Feng, Jingguo Zhang, Rong Wang, Changsui Wang
11:30
12:00 Lunch
Convenors: Josefina Pérez-Arantegui and So Hasegawa
(14:00—15:20 )
14:00 Studies on Ceramic Tiles from Taosi Site
Naisheng Li ; He-nu ; Mao Zhengwei ; Changsui Wang
14:20 Microelement Analysis of Sources of Raw Material of Ru Guan Porcelain in
Qingliangsi
G. X. Li, Z. Y. Gao , M. Guo, W. J. Zhao, J. Z. Xie, R. W. Li, H.Liu ,S. L. Feng X. M. Sun, M. S. Guo, D. Y. Fai, Z. F. Cai
14:40 The Source Provenance of Roman Lead Objects from Germany
Soodabeh Durali-Mueller,Yann Lahaye,Gerhard P. Brey, Gerhard Fingerlin
15:00 Restudy of Provenance on Protoporcelain in Shang Dynasty of China
Jian zhu, Changsui Wang, Zhenwei Mao, Guangming Zhou, Changsheng Fan, Xiaoming Zeng, Yueming Shen, Xicheng Gong
15:20 Coffee Break
Master of ceremonies: Prof. Y. Maniatis
16:00 Aitken Prize, and Closing Address
18:30 Prof. Yong Deng hold a reception
Master of ceremonies: Prof. Changsui Wang
Prof. Yong Deng delivers an closing speech
Prof. Michael Tite makes an address
Prof. Dongsheng Liu, Owner of the “International Taylor Prize”
Owner of the Chinese Highest Prize for Science and Technology
Senior member of CAS, makes an address
Monday, 16th of May Academic Travel or Departure