On 16 – 20 October, the capital of Tatarstan will welcome the workshop “The Use of Nuclear Physics Method for Cultural Heritage Research”. The event will be the second in the series and will gather more than 40 scientists from various countries.

Participants will discuss the advantages of nuclear physics methods of analysis, prospects for and opportunities of using such methods to study objects of cultural heritage. They will also work out the methodology for conducting joint interdisciplinary studies and will share the results of their work.

A large delegation of JINR scientists headed by Director of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics Valery Shvetsov and his Deputy Otilia ana-Culicov will make a number of reports. FLNP JINR specialists will present the results of their investigations made with the use of non-destructive research methods: neutron activation analysis, neutron tomography and diffraction. Participants will discuss the possible use of these methods for the study of the elemental, molecular, and mineral content of various samples. For example, specialists of the Laboratory of Neutron Physics will present research results of samples of Byzantine ceramic shards found in Romania; ceramics of the Bronze Age, the Early Iron Age, and the Middle Ages from the excavations in Eastern Kazakhstan; copper battle axe of the Abashevo culture; pigments and plaster bases of unique pre-Mongolian frescoes of the 12th century; and others.

The event is jointly organized by Kazan Federal University and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research. The working languages of the workshop are Russian and English.

Photo by Denis Gordiyko