ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Resonance based neutron techniques proof of concept for trace elements and isotopic ratios in Gold

Abstract: Trace element approaches have been used successfully to elucidate the manufacture and provenance of ancient gold artefacts. Standard quadrupole ICP-MS seems to be the most common analytical technique, however, it has a major problem with heterogeneous samples. if there are surface alterations or simply a slightly inconsistent alloy ? at a trace or major element level ? micro sampling will probably not return a representative result for the bulk alloy. Another challenge is that it often does not capture enough material for isotope ratio techniques to be used. Finally, there are the practical and security barriers: not all objects fit inside sampling chambers often set up for geochemical projects; some objects cannot be risked even for laser ablation; and many labs are simply not set up to handle high-value heritage objects.  We are essentially proposing a proof of concept to see whether activation techniques at ISIS can provide trace element data that will help generate archaeologically relevant conclusions where standard LA-ICP-Q-MS techniques cannot.

Principal Investigator: Dr George Green
Local Contact: Dr Antonella Scherillo
Experimenter: Dr Giulia Marcucci

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520661

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520661

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr George Green et al; (2026): Resonance based neutron techniques proof of concept for trace elements and isotopic ratios in Gold, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520661

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.