Confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy (excitation at 785 nm) and micro-spectrofluorimetry (laser excitation at 532 nm) were used to analyse single flax fibres from ancient linens; a series of modern samples was also examined in order to verify the performance of the method on fibres that were completely untreated or that underwent known chemical or thermal treatments.

The correlation between a Raman band intensity ratio and the age of the samples was investigated together with laser-excited fluorescence, in order to acquire a further parameter related to the ageing of the textiles.

With both techniques, a significant correlation was also obtained between spectral data and the age of the samples. The reasons for obtaining relatively mediocre values for the Pearson coefficients were carefully analysed and discussed.

Both analytical techniques can give an indication about the relative chronology of different linen samples, with higher accuracy for samples that experienced similar conservation and/or treatment conditions and can be useful for comparing archaeological findings from a same or similar sites, or for distinguishing restored parts in a same textile.