OS14. X-radiography and archaeometallurgy

X-radiography is a rapid imaging technique which is particularly useful for examining archaeological metalwork. The process is similar to conventional medical radiography and the two-dimensional negative image is usually produced on photosensitive film. Although Xradiography cannot identify the nature of the metals and other materials under examination, these may often be inferred from the morphology and densities in the image, and can be determined by analytical techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) based microanalysis and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis (see Datasheet 12).