Speaker
Description
Neutron imaging (NI) techniques are particularly suitable for the study of cultural heritage objects as they represent non-destructive and non-invasive testing methods complementary to X-ray methods. Nevertheless, NI methods are relatively rarely used for investigations of such objects, which is partially due to the method’s still low awareness level and the skepticism among museum curators, conservators and archaeologists.
In this presentation, we give an overview on cultural heritage related investigations and projects carried out in collaboration with museums, cantonal archaeology departments and universities in Switzerland. The examples range from mere case studies using simple neutron radiography and tomography (e.g. metallic artefacts from Roman museum Avenches) over combined neutron and X-ray tomography (e.g. sword from Oberwil in collaboration with Swiss national museum (SNM) and archaeology department Zug) to more complex projects over several years (e.g. monitoring of brass wind instruments with SNM, University of the arts Bern and ETH Zurich).
