Supply and Delivery of a Digital Microscope

Tender description

The Authority would like to purchase a high specification digital microscope as an alternative to high resolution 3D imaging. It will be used for a wide range of applications such as, animal bone butchery/cut-marks identification and analysis, diagenetic alterations to bone and shell, and biometric analysis of carbonised plant materials. Lot 1: As an overview the Archaeology and the Environment Science Facility (AEONS) is a major new strategic partnership led by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Orkney. It is funded by a major Research Council UK (RCUK) grant from the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) Research Infrastructure for Conservation and Heritage Science (RICHeS) funding scheme. AEONS would like to purchase a high specification digital microscope as an alternative to high resolution 3D imaging. It will be used for a wide range of applications such as, animal bone butchery/cut-marks identification and analysis, diagenetic alterations to bone and shell, and biometric analysis of carbonised plant materials. In addition to this it will provide specialist services in dental microwear analysis which are currently under-resourced across the UK. Other applications may include the analysis of microwear on stone tools, manufacturing and use-wear marks on a wide variety of objects and artefacts. Objects analysed using this microscope will range from tiny, charred plant seeds and cereal grains to large cattle femurs, skulls or other bones, stone tools and pottery vessels. The handheld camera option will also allow for much larger specimens (e.g. large pieces of waterlogged wood, carved stone objects or elements of whale skeletons) to be analysed under magnification.