1. A method for identification of a material, the method comprising: illuminating the material with one or more light sources including at least one light source which emits light of controlled coherence properties; deriving both of a spectral characteristic and a speckle statistic, wherein the spectral characteristic and the speckle statistic are derived using light reflected from the illuminated material; comparing the spectral characteristic and the speckle statistic against plural entries in a database, wherein each entry in the database correlates the identity of a material against a corresponding spectral characteristic and a corresponding speckle statistic for the material; and determining at least one candidate for the identity of the illuminated material based at least in part on the comparison.