Ceramics, Marbles and Stones in the Light of Neutrons: Characterization by Various Neutron Methods

In this chapter we give a brief overview of neutron based analytical investigations applied to study archaeological ceramics, and different types of stones. Since the vast majority of archaeological objects are made of ceramics and various stones—all are of geological origin—, one of the key objectives of these studies to determine the origin of raw material. This research is called provenance research, and a wide range of neutron based methods are applicable in it. Following a very basic, user-oriented description of the methods, we introduce examples from our everyday practice. The examples are about provenance of prehistoric stone tools, about the sources of 4th–3rd c. B.C. millennium limestone idols found in the South of Portugal, as well as about the characterization of 15th–16th c. A.D. Inka pottery. A very unique application of combined neutron techniques was aimed to determine the inner content of an Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian sealed vessel. In addition, investigations of samples from different epochs and characterization of marbles are presented.