G. Mila

X-ray tomography of a soil block: a useful tool for the restoration of archaeological finds

AbstractIntroductionX-ray imaging is a very powerful tool which can be exploited in several fields. In the last few years, its use in archaeology has grown consistently. One of the most recent and interesting applications of computed X-ray tomography (CT) is the analysis of soil blocks, coming from excavations, in order to seek for finds of different kinds and materials possibly contained therein. For this purpose, both medical and industrial CT scanners have been employed. In this paper, the application of a CT instrument specifically designed and developed for the analysis of Cultural Heritage materials is presented. We analysed a soil block extracted from a necropolis in the Italian region of Abruzzo and probably dating back to the VI-IV century B.C., which was found to contain a bronze belt.ResultsThanks to the versatility of the CT equipment we designed, a complete scan has been obtained in less than four hours and has delivered extremely useful information in a completely non-invasive way. The CT dataset and images allowed a virtual extraction of the find to be performed before the actual stratigraphic recovery that, in this case, was simplified thanks to the merging of the archaeological evidences and with information coming from scientific analyses. The information provided by the tomography consisted in: the distribution, shape and dimensions of fragments composing the artefact; indications about its general conditions; the recognition of repairs done in the past and the presence of different materials (although not precisely identified).ConclusionsThe use of CT has great potential for the work of both archaeologists and restorers. The indirect extraction of an artefact from an archaeological excavation, which entailed moving a soil block to the laboratory, allowed one to reconstruct almost all its parts and to collect information about materials. CT analysis has been particularly useful for determining both its conditions and its repairs before the actual recovery, thereby facilitating the restoration process.The recovery and conservation of an historical piece like the one presented here can help archaeological and conservation studies, enrich a museum collection and contribute to the dissemination of acquired cultural information. Graphical AbstractX-ray imaging of a soil block from an archaeological excavation and the extracted metal belt.

Results of the Italian neu_ART project

The neu_ART project aims at developing state of the art transmission imaging and computed tomography techniques, applied to art objects, by using neutrons as well as more conventional X-rays. In this paper a facility for digital X-ray radiography of large area paintings on canvas or wooden panels and for the X-ray tomography of large size wooden artifacts, recently installed in a protected area, is presented. The results of a K-edge radiography facility that will soon be installed in the same area are also shown.

Level Zero Trigger processor for the ultra rare kaon decay experiment—NA62

In the NA62 experiment at CERN-SPS the communication between detectors and the Lowest Level (L0) trigger processor is performed via Ethernet packets, using the UDP protocol. The L0 Trigger Processor handles the signals from sub-detectors that take part to the trigger generation. In order to choose the best solution for its realization, two different approaches have been implemented. The first approach is fully based on a FPGA device while the second one joins an off-the-shelf PC to the FPGA. The performance of the two systems will be discussed and compared.The main purpose of the NA62 experiment is to measure the branching ratio of the (ultra) rare decay

X-ray tomography of large wooden artworks: the case study of "Doppio corpo" by Pietro Piffetti

K+ \rightarrow {\pi}+{\nu}\bar{\nu}

Results of the first integration test of the CMS drift tubes muon trigger

with the precision of 10% collecting about 100 events with the Standard Model branching fraction in 3 years of data taking. The commissioning of the experiment after the 2014 pilot run and the prospects for the 2015 run are presented.