Speaker
Dr
Bogdan Constantinescu
(– National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, Bucharest – 077125, ROMANIA)
Description
Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) is a perfect tool to determine the bulk elemental concentrations of valuable artefacts, without the destruction of the objects. PGAA was applied at the Budapest Neutron Centre to determine the bulk elemental composition for some glass archaeological samples from Romanian museums.
Glass archaeological samples were fragments of colored Byzantine glass bracelets (XI century, found on an archaeological site on Danube border in Dobroudja) and of medieval artifacts from Bucharest area. Na (natron) and K (plant ash) contents give information on fluxes used in glass production; Al content could indicates the sand deposit, Mg content also suggests natron or plant (wood) ash flux procedure, Ca content indicates the stabilizer from glass technology. All these data give information on workshops, technologies and commercial relations existing in South-Eastern Europe.
A parallel investigation using milli-PIXE was performed for colorants and pigments (some of the bracelets were painted) identification.
Despite PIGE-PIXE combination is probably the best one for glass analysis, our PGAA-PIXE methods proved to be adequate complementary tools to determine many chemical elements from glass composition.
The authors would acknowledge the support from the CHARISMA and IPERION CH projects of the EC.
Primary author
Dr
Bogdan Constantinescu
(– National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, Bucharest – 077125, ROMANIA)
Co-authors
Dr
Daniela Stan
(– National Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering “Horia Hulubei”, Bucharest – 077125, ROMANIA)
Dr
Ildikó Harsányi
(Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest H-1121, HUNGARY)
Dr
Zsolt Kasztovszky
(Centre for Energy Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest H-1121, HUNGARY)
