Determining organic remains in archaeological objects provides information about human activities in certain period or site, including food preparation, storage, or even rituals. Detection and chemical identification of organic biomarkers require the use of high-sensitivity techniques to overcome the complexity limitations of the samples in terms of composition and low concentrations of constituent compounds. To date, the techniques that have been mainly reported to be used for this type of analysis are extraction methods, followed by the use of chromatographic separation techniques (Gas Chromatography--GC, Liquid Chromatography--LC, and High Performance Liquid Chromatography--HPLC) conjugated with mass spectrometry, providing precise determination of the structure and molecular weight of compounds even at low concentrations. Another approach, in residues analysis, are spectroscopic methods which are able to overcome limitations of these methods, arising from sample preparation requirements and measurement duration, along with the difficulties in performing in situ analysis. In this study, we focus on the development of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), using Ag nanoparticles, for the identification and further study of syringic acid [1,2] (4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzoic acid), a naturally occurring phenolic compound derived from edible plants and fruits, and also a grape-related organic compound in archaeological remains. Syringic acid solutions in different concentrations mixed with the Ag nanoparticle solution were examined, resulting in a strong enhancement of Raman scattering. In order to simulate the detection of an organic compound in storage vessels, we merged ceramic objects in a syringe acid solution followed by an extraction method with polar solvents, and the extraction solutions were examined with SERS technique. ## References  
* (1) Clavijo, R.E. ; Ross, D.J. ; Aroca, R.F. Surface enhanced Raman scattering of trans-p-coumaric and syringe acids. _J. Raman Spectrosc._**2009**, _40_, 1984-1988. * (2) Blanco-Zubiaguirre, L.; Olivares, M.; Castro, K.; Carrero, J.A. ; Garcia-Benito, C.; Garcia-Serrano, J.A. ; Perez-Perez, J.; Perez-Arantegui, J. Wine markers in archeological potteries: detection by GC-MS at ultratrace levels. _Anal. Bioanal. Chem._**2019**, _411_, 6711-6722. * (3)_18.18. Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Combined with Machine Learning Models and Neural Networks for the Classification of Hard Tissue Remains_**L. Spanos 1,2,*, P. Siozos 2, A. Koropoulis 3, N. Hausmann 5,6, M. Holst 6,7, P. Pavlidis 4 and D. Anglos 1,2,*
* (4) Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, 71003 Heraklion, Greece
* (5) Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (IESL-FORTH), P.O. Box 1385, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
* (6) Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (IMBB-FORTH), P.O. Box 1385, 71110 Heraklion, Greece
* (7) Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (ICS-FORTH), P.O. Box 1385, 70013 Heraklion, Greece
* (8) Niedersachsisches Institut fur historische Kustenforschung, Viktoriastr, 26/28, 26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
* (9) BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, Kings Manor, Exhibition Square, York YO1 7 ep, UK
* (10) York Osteoarchaeology Ltd., 75 Main Street, Bishop Wilton, York YO42 1 SR, UK
* (11) Correspondence: lspanos95@gmail.com (L.S. ); anglos@iesl.forth.gr (D.A.) Archaeological and forensic excavations often reveal large numbers of hard tissue remains from multiple individuals. The discrimination among individuals and the classification of their remains is vital for revealing the identity, as well as information about the life and death of those individuals. There exist several well-established methods for the analysis of disarticulated or commingled skeletal assemblages. However, these methods are difficult to be applied in situ, are time-consuming, and have increased costs.