Neutron Activation Analysis at the British Museum, London

Abstract

Neutron activation analysis was used at the British Museum from 1978 until 2002 for provenance studies on ceramics and marble. Significant numbers of the items analysed were of high quality and value, and careful sampling was necessary to avoid damage to the object. An in-house British Museum Standard Pottery was established and inter-calibrated with a number of standards used by other archaeometry laboratories. The results of the projects have been published in many papers, and the databases established will be of use to future scholars interested in the ceramic groups represented. Projects on Greek and Near Eastern pottery have been undertaken. Relatively large numbers of north European medieval and post-medieval pottery samples were analysed, as well as the tin-glazed ceramics of Spain and Italy. Classical marble has also formed the subject of another project and a database of quarry material has been established.

Experimental Evaluation of Sample‐extraction Methods and the Potential for Contamination in Ceramic Specimens*

“…Here, we present a small study aimed at evaluating the potential for contamination during the process of sample‐powder extraction. Several methods have been advocated by different archaeometry programmes during the past 30 years (Asaro and Adan‐Bayewitz 2007; Blackman and Bishop 2007; Harbottle and Holmes 2007; Hughes 2007), and most laboratories develop a standardized protocol so as to minimize confounding effects of contamination. The Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) routinely employs a method by which a small fragment is broken from the ceramic artefact, all surfaces are burred from the broken piece using a silicon‐carbide (SC) abrasive grinding stone, and the remaining fragment is ground in an agate mortar and pestle.…”