ABOUT

What questions can we now ask about heritage resources that we never before thought was possible? This question lies at the core of this LINXS theme. Recent advancements in neutron and X-ray science have opened the door to new applications that bridge the divide between the sciences and the humanities, and these powerful techniques can be harnessed to ask central questions about humanity’s history and shared patrimony.

Heritage resources are the culturally and scientifically significant objects, artefacts, and places that modern society has inherited from past generations. This includes both natural resources, such as fossils, sediments, and landscapes, as well as cultural resources including art, archaeological artefacts, and ancient buildings. Heritage resources are of great interest to both academic and public communities, as they can help us reflect on and understand our shared human origins. Synchrotron and neutron techniques have the potential to open new frontiers in the study of heritage resources by providing scientists with the tools needed to powerfully, yet non-invasively, characterise, image, and communicate these critically important and often invaluable materials. This interdisciplinary theme will bring together archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians, palaeontologists, geologists, chemists, and physicists to explore the cutting-edge potential of using synchrotron and neutron science to study and understand our shared cultural and natural heritage.

HAPPENING IN THEME

CORE GROUP

GUEST RESEARCHERS

WORKING GROUPS FOR HERITAGE SCIENCE

Heritage WorkING Group 1

Fieldwork and Collections

WG 1 will focus on the work heritage professionals conduct in the field, from archaeological excavations to sampling soils and forensics, to the use of stored material in museum collections.

Heritage WORKING GROUP 2

Conservation

WG 2 will focus on the issues faced by museum conservators, art historians, and research archaeologists, primarily highlighting non-invasive approaches to cultural heritage. We will explore how neutron and synchrotron techniques can characterise materials in ways that have never before been thought possible.

Heritage WORKING GROUP 3

Advancing analysis

WG 3 will concentrate on new non-destructive methods and applications, and serve as a hub for the dissemination of cutting-edge analysis. The members include a mix of experts in radiation and heritage sciences, with the aim that heritage specialists will be able to discover and develop new questions they did not know they could probe and to establish an extensive network with experts in radiation sciences.

Heritage WORKING GROUP 4

Quantitative methods

WG 4 will focus on establishing best practices and methods for quantitative analysis and modelling, cover imaging, elemental and compositional analysis with X-rays and neutrons.

heritage working group 5

Visualisation

WG 5 will focus on the application of advanced and user-friendly 3D and 4D visualization tools to be applied by heritage specialists in fieldwork, archaeological research, digital archiving, communication and didactic, to monitor the modification of archeological sites due to human and natural impacts such as climate change (to preserve the information available at the pristine status).

Heritage working group 6

Communication

WG 6 has two aims: to share knowledge within academia and to disseminate this knowledge to the wider public. Advances in digital accessibility, such as virtual reality exhibitions online or augmented reality tours on-site, are changing the way we communicate research with the public. This Theme presents an opportunity to capitalise on these growing fields to promote interdisciplinary science and education.

 

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