Characterization with non-destructive techniques using external ion beam to analyse archaeological and art objects

• Grant number: 07/08721-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2008
• End date: April 30, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Nuclear Physics
• Principal Investigator: Márcia de Almeida Rizzutto
• Grantee: Márcia de Almeida Rizzutto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project aims the characterization and authentication of archaeological and/or art object with ion beam methods with not destructive elementary analysis to investigate the chemical elements present in these. This research of the elementary archaeological and art object composition through the analysis of chemical elements present in these permit the identification of the processes involved in the manufacture used by different cultures, of origin and in particular in the case of analysis of inks and pigments in art objects, it allows to correlate with the historical time, origin, authenticity, etc. To these measurements of characterization and identification of the existing elements in these objects we intend to use and to construct one external beam arrangement in the Laboratorio de Analises de Materiais for Feixes Iônicos (LAMFI) of the Institute of Physics of the University of São Paulo, exclusive for these archaeological analyses. The actual external beam arrangement is improvised and needs adaptations and improvements for exclusive use for archaeological proposals analysis in this project. In this new experimental set-up we will use non-destructive analytical techniques as Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE), Particle Induced Gamma-ray Emission of Radiation (PIGE) and Rutherford Backscattering (RBS) that used together permit the characterization of chemical elements of the complete periodic table and in some cases it will be able to establish the thicknesses of the layers of materials and thus to help in the identification, authentication or same determination of the employed technology and consequently the historical period of one determined object. This project will also introduce the analysis of Induced Luminescence with Ions in archaeological and heritage objects. This new analysis will allow the simultaneous identification of chemical linking. (AU)