It seems strange to consider that neutrons and muons, discovered in the 1930s, should be used to investigate artefacts dating as far back as 10,000 BCE, however such work has been done here at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.
However both neutrons and muons are now being used as powerful tools to probe the past, due to their non-destructive and penetrating nature, allowing researchers to look deep inside historical artefacts to uncover the mysteries that lie within - without causing damage to the object.
Instruments have been used, each with unique capabilities. ENGIN-X measures the stresses and strains within samples at the atomic level, IMAT utilises neutron imaging, INES and GEM use neutron diffraction techniques, and...