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[en] During the recent excavation of a native American village at Governor's Land, in Virginia, two burials were unearthed, each of which contained a jumble of human bones, some fabric and a large number of copper tube beads. PIXE analysis of a representative group of these beads showed that about one-third of them were shaped from pieces of native copper, while the remainder were fashioned from scraps of smelted copper. Since the latter must have come from Europe, these data place the village's occupation in the decade either side of A.D. 1607, when the English first settled at nearby Jamestown

[en] The two-decade long history of thermoluminescene as a pottery dating method is surveyed with particular reference to the various problems that have been encountered in the Oxford Laboratory's research programme. Effects, such as supralinearity and radon emanation, are explained in terms of how they are measured and how their existence influences thermoluminescence (TL) dating accuracy (currently close to plus minus 7% per analysis). Illustrations of Thermoluminescence (TL) applications include a Nok culture terracotta from Nigeria and a Cambodia bronze Buddha figure of the Khmer period, dated ising the ceramic-like casting-core retained within it. (author)

[en] The most attractive Roman glass produced during the early part of the 1st century A.D. was mosaic ware - bowls and dishes molded from arrays of multi-colored canes that created abstract floral and geometric designs. Yet ancient literature tells us little about the organization of the glassworking industry in which such wares were produced. We have focused upon two kinds of mosaic decoration that include a component of white glass in their cane construction and have purple glass as their matrix. A consistent pattern in the minor levels of lead in each kind of glass suggests that they were the products of two separate workshops, each with separate sources of supply for their glass stock

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[en] After a general introductory chapter, the subject is treated under three headings: paintings, ceramics and metals. The scientific tests for authenticity are described in their application to one or more of these branches of art. The traditional method of visual stylistic judgement is compared with and supplemented by scientific methods which (as well as 'wet' chemical analysis, optical microscopy, ultraviolet, infrared, electron and X-ray microscopy, X-ray crystallography and X-ray fluorescence, and direct age determination) include the following or more direct 'nuclear' interest: neutron (or proton, deuteron and high-energy photon) activation analysis for determining impurity and trace element content, gamma radiography for bronzes, neutron autoradiography or examining paintings, radiocarbon dating, other isotope dating (e.g. with lead isotopes and the radium-lead ratio), high temperature thermoluminescence for ceramics, and mass spectroscopy to determine isotope ratios indicative of particular sources of materials. As well as the reference in each chapter there is an additional bibliography. (U.K.)

[en] Over the last two decades Industry and Medicine have developed and fully exploited various X-ray techniques, especially xeroradiography. It is only recently, however, that the latter has found significant use in museum-related disciplines, the appeal being that it is nondestructive in its usual mode of application. Though the production of xeroradiographic images has been largely constrained to situations where the X-ray beam incidence is normal to the object's surface - we will illustrate that information recovery is not optimized in that configuration - some valuable data has been gleaned about certain characteristic features of ceramic structure. For example, the frequency, grain structure and gross aspects of rock and mineral inclusions are often radiographically distinct, when their effective atomic number is significantly different from the surrounding clay matrix. (Haematite, muscovite and calcite show up particularly clearly). Similarly, remnants of organic matter, such as any rice or straw temper that the potter may have added, produce quite distinct images. We have now adapted routine xeroradiographic methods to accurately reconstruct the method of manufacture of individual pottery vessel types from a wide range of past cultural horizons. Adjustments in X-ray exposure settings and angles of incidence, coupled to an internal study of certain vessel forms (using a 'thick section' technique that we will describe in detail), has allowed us to identify subtle changes with time in ancient pottery production methods, and has prompted much reassessment of current ideas about technological innovation within several cultures, including those of Bronze Age Jordan and prehistoric Thailand. This paper will summarize the technical aspects of these changes, and consider the past social conditions which may have stimulated them. (orig.)