Understanding Cultural Heritage
Editorial review 2026
The techniques of radioactivity and nuclear physics may at first seem far removed from archaeology and art history. Yet these highly sensitive, rapid and non-destructive techniques are extremely useful for determining the nature, origin, manufacture and age of ancient objects. Their applications are numerous and varied.
Ion beam analyses make it possible to answer questions raised by historians and specialists in ancient civilizations about objects in their possession. Was the sword presented to Bonaparte by the Directory after the Italian campaign really worth its weight in gold? What is the quality of the gilding on a triad of Khmer statuettes?
Scabbard of the Emperors’ Sword
Scabbard of the emperors’ sword presented in 1797 to Napoleon Bonaparte and preserved at the Fontainebleau Museum. Following the Italian campaign, defeated Austria was forced to sign the Treaty of Campo Formio and gave its victor a sword that had belonged to the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The Directory complemented the Austrian emperor’s gift with a magnificent scabbard. Analysis showed that it was made of solid gold and that the Directory had spared no expense.
© LRMF
The composition of marble is characteristic of a specific quarry: analyzing the elemental composition of a statue makes it possible to determine the origin of the marble without damaging it.
Is the ruby in an ancient ring a genuine precious stone? Without needing to take a sample, it is possible to confirm its authenticity by measuring the quantity of natural impurities it contains.
Analysis of Gilding
The technique used to compare the gold of the emperors’ sword scabbard with the gold of the Khmer statue at the Guimet Museum is Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS). The measurements clearly distinguish the solid gold of the sword scabbard from the gold plating of the statuette and from areas without gilding.
© LRMF
The use of radioactive dating is essential for objects of uncertain origin whose age exceeds a few hundred years. Carbon-14 makes it possible to date objects ranging from a few centuries old (such as the Shroud of Turin, dating from the 14th century) to several tens of thousands of years old (such as the ashes from Chauvet Cave). Since carbon-14 has a half-life (see radioactivity) of 5,730 years, dating can be performed up to approximately 50,000 years.
The inks formerly used for drawings, manuscripts and illuminated texts were generally not produced locally and came in a great variety. Ink analysis can reveal anachronisms, for example when a medieval copyist added a passage to Cicero’s Philippics manuscript.
Triad of Khmer Deities
The surface of this Khmer statuette, preserved at the Guimet Museum, includes both gilded and non-gilded areas. Nuclear methods make it possible to analyze the quality of the gold used in the gilding.
© Dominique BAGAULT/LRMF
Carbon-14 is not the only dating tool. Thermoluminescence is a valuable technique for anthropologists, making it possible to date Neanderthals who lived alongside Homo sapiens. In museums, pre-Columbian terracotta statuettes have been dated using thermoluminescence and distinguished from modern reproductions.
Although the precision of dating is not perfect, this test is extremely difficult to falsify. One could imagine irradiating objects to give them an apparent age, but the required doses are very difficult to control at the necessary level of precision.
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