Peter Northover

Gristhorpe man: an early bronze age log-coffin burial scientifically defined

A log-coffin excavated in the early nineteenth century proved to be well enough preserved in the early twenty-first century for the full armoury of modern scientific investigation to give its occupants and contents new identity, new origins and a new date. In many ways the interpretation is much the same as before: a local big man buried looking out to sea. Modern analytical techniques can create a person more real, more human and more securely anchored in history. This research team shows how.

Incorporation of laser ablation into a proton probe system to study laser ablation of corrosion products, and enhance the probe's analytical capabilities

Abstract The Oxford University Scanning Proton Microprobe Unit has been responsible for many advances in the field of focused proton beams for analytical microscopy, including being the first to develop the optimized electro-magnetic lenses used to focus high-energy protons to the micron and sub-micron level. This has led to a revolution in using the proton microprobe as an analytical tool for the study of materials. Continuing the tradition of innovation at the Oxford SPM unit, the use of laser ablation to reduce the need for sampling or cleaning of art and archaeological objects, before analysis, is being investigated. Further, information on the makeup of corrosion layers and past conservation treatments is becoming available via this technique.

Achieving High Spatial Resolution in Elemental Mapping of Metal Samples from Archaeological Contexts

Improving the characterization of archaeological artifacts brings a need to understand better the relationships between composition, structure and properties. With archaeological material there is also a requirement to consider the effects of ageing and environmental interactions in altering the original structure and composition, both in the bulk and at the surface. However, curatorial constraints and, frequently, the condition of the objects preclude the sampling methods required for the most powerful means of structural analysis of materials, the high resolution transmission electron microscope. The samples normally available are small bulk samples and we must find other means of maximizing spatial resolution in microchemical and microstructural analysis of both bulk and surface regions of the samples. This paper describes ways in which this is being achieved using the scanning proton microprobe (SPM) with both particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and Rutherford back scattered proton (RBS) spectra at resolutions down to ca. 1?m, electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) at 250-300nm, and scanning Auger microscopy (SAM) at resolutions of 10-20nm, but only from the surface layers of atoms in a sample. Examples will be given which demonstrate the contribution that each instrument can make, and that new and useful information is obtained each time resolution is increased. They will also show that structural features can be identified which are invisible to other microscopies. It will also be shown how modern PC-based software has greatly enhanced the mapping capability of all instruments.