The ablation properties of aged triterpenoid dammar and mastic films were investigated using a Krypton Fluoride excimer laser (248 nm, 25 ns). Ablation rate variations between surface and bulk layers indicated changes of the ablation mechanisms across the depth profiles of the films. In particular, after removal of the uppermost surface varnish layers there was a reduction of the ablation step in the bulk that was in line with a significant reduction of carbon dimer emission beneath the surface layers as detected by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. The results are explicable by the generation of condensation, cross-linking and oxidative gradients across the depth pro. le of triterpenoid varnish films during the aging degradation process, which were recently quantified and established on the molecular level. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.