The Collection of Samples of the Coordinacion Nacional de Conservacion del Patrimonio Cultural (CNCPC, National Coordination for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage), Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH, National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico): A Support Tool for Cultural Heritage Research

The Collection of Samples of the Coordinacion Nacional de Conservacion del Patrimonio Cultural (CNCPC, National Coordination for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage), Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH, National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico) is an institutional project with dual objectives: on one hand it helps to minimise damage to cultural heritage by reducing the taking of samples and, on the other hand, it serves as a support tool for scientific research in the fields of conservation, archaeology, art history and related disciplines. In order to meet the demands of various potential investigation areas the collection consists of both samples of material culture as well as conservation materials; it has an ad hoc database that is currently undergoing a process of growth and consolidation.