NON‐DESTRUCTIVE INVESTIGATION OF BRONZE ARTEFACTS FROM THE MARCHES NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY USING NEUTRON DIFFRACTION*

Abstract

Non‐destructive neutron diffraction techniques were applied to determine composition and microstructure data, and hence to derive information on manufacturing techniques of Picenum bronze artefacts. Furthermore, texture analyses were carried out on standards and suitable ancient artefacts to investigate their potential role in archaeometallurgical studies. This is a first step towards an overall characterization of the bronze collection of the Marches National Museum of Archaeology, Italy, and the analytical demonstration of relations with and differences compared to Etruscan metallurgy. The work is also an example application of the powerful non‐destructive archaeometrical approaches provided by time‐of‐flight neutron diffraction.