[en] Excitation of a transparent ZnS crystal by repetitive picosecond dye laser pulses causes an accumulated surface modification leading to optical damage. The onset of the damage is detected by an abrupt increase in the emission of neutral Zn (and possibly S₂) from the surface. Comparison of the neutral emission thresholds with pulse-pair and single-pulse excitation shows that linear absorption is the dominant laser-surface interaction. In general, this measurement technique shows considerable promise for investigating the possible influence of nonlinear absorption or excitation processes on damage mechanisms. The data suggest that heating of small absorbing regions produces the surface modification that leads to the observed surface ablation. The nature of the damage observed at fluences above the threshold suggests that it is caused by heating of a relatively large (/approximately/10 - 100 μm) surface region that has been modified by the accumulation pulses. 3 refs., 5 figs