History – from antiquity to the recent past – conveys to us a set of artistic, architectural creations, objects and documents, but also systems of values and beliefs, in which society recognizes a cultural meaning. This is cultural heritage, the protection and preservation of which is now also recognised in European policies as a key element in creating social capital and for the growth of cultural and creative industries. Preservation, interpretation and management of cultural heritage are addressed thanks to Heritage Science. It is a cross-disciplinary research domain that connects researchers from the humanities with the natural sciences. In this field, there are many applications deriving from technologies developed by the Institute, which for this very reason has equipped itself with INFN-CHNet (Cultural Heritage Network), a research network and distributed service infrastructure for the transfer of knowledge and technology to public and private entities in the sector.
One of the requirements for the artworks or archaeological sites addressed by the network is dating: radiocarbon dating is performed using accelerators, with Ion Beam Analyses techniques (e.g. PIXE and PIGE); Thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) are applied for ceramic artefacts. Equally relevant is the characterization of the materials (often polycrystalline) or the spatial distribution of the elements that make up the artefacts: it is thus possible to know the materials, the construction techniques or the places of origin of the raw materials, or even to authenticate an artwork. Some techniques developed for these purposes are digital tomography and radiography based on the use of X-rays (Digital radiography scanner, XRF) and surface analysis techniques (ToF-SIMS, High resolution 3D profilometry). For artworks that cannot be removed from their premises, INFN-CHNet has instrumentation available for in situ analysis for Ion Beam Analysis techniques (portable PIXE-alpha) or for analysis by using X-rays (digital tomography and radiography, XRF, Micro/Macro XRF imaging, Confocal 3D XRF). But how can experimental data be useful? The network integrates into a digital platform (DIGILAB) its data about an artwork with the observations of art historians and restorers, to make comprehensive information available to expert users. The reference centre for the INFN-CHNet network is the Laboratory of Nuclear Techniques for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (LABEC) based in Florence.
