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Image: University of Notre Dame
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University of Notre Dame nuclear
physicists Philippe Collon and Michael Wiescher are using accelerated ion beams
to pinpoint the age and origin of material used in pottery, painting, metalwork,
and other art. The results of their tests can serve as forensic tools to reveal
counterfeit art work, without the destruction of any sample as required in some
chemical analysis.
Their research is featured in Physics Today. Wiescher and Collon say, "Art experts play an important role in identifying the style, history, and
context of a painting, but a solid scientific basis for the proper
identification and classification of a piece of art must rely on information
from other sources.
"A host of approaches with
origins in biology, chemistry, and physics have allowed scientists and art
historians not only to look below a painting's or artifact's surface, but also
to analyze in detail the pigments used, investigate painting techniques and
modifications done by the artist or art restorers, find trace materials that
reveal ages and provenances, and more," Wiescher and Collon continue.
The information that is revealed
can shed light on trading patterns, economic conditions and other details of
history. For example, the amount of silver in Roman coins can indicate the
degree of inflation in the ancient economy.
Laboratories in Europe, including
several in Italy and one in
the basement of the Louvre in Paris,
have accelerators dedicated to the forensic analysis of art, and archaeological
artifacts. These accelerator-based techniques have allowed not only to analyze
the works themselves, but also to determine origin, trade, and migration routes
as well as dietary information. As an example, the analysis of the ruby eyes in
a Babylonian statue of the goddess Ishtar using the Louvre’s accelerator showed
that the rubies came from a mine in Vietnam, demonstrating that trade
occurred between those far-apart regions some 4,000 years ago.
At Notre Dame, researchers are
using proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and
accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) to study artifacts
brought by local archeologists, Native American cultures in the American
Southwest, and the Snite Museum of Art extensive collection of Mezzo-American
figurines.
Wiescher, the Frank M. Freimann
Professor of Physics, and Collon, associate professor of physics, are using
their findings to teach undergraduates. Wiescher initially developed the
undergraduate physics class called Physical Methods in Art and Archaeology, and
now Collon teaches the class which attracts students from nearly every major.
The course covers topics such as X-ray fluorescence and X-ray absorption, proton-induced
X-ray emission, neutron-induced activation analysis, radiocarbon dating,
accelerator mass spectroscopy, luminescence dating, and methods of archeometry.
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