Ink Dating—The State of the Art

Over the past 20 years, no other field of forensic science has had greater impact on the detection of fraudulent documents than the scientific examination of writing inks. This paper traces the development of ink dating techniques from the 1930s to 1990. Techniques used during this period are described and, when possible, illustrated. The emphasis is on ink dating techniques used today, with discussion of the value and limitations of these procedures.