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Old stones, new science

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Abstract

Museum collections include many French medieval limestone sculptures of unknown origin. To localize the source of their stone, the composition of samples from such sculptures has been determined by neutron activation analysis (INAA). Using multivariate statistics, we compared their compositional profiles with groups of samples from French monuments and from quarries known to medieval craftsmen. This process has suggested a provenance for some sculptures and allowed us to assign others to a region or a quarry that provided stone for their production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, 11973-5000, USA

    L. L. Holmes

  2. Department of Geosciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, 11937, USA

    G. Harbottle

Authors
  1. L. L. Holmes
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  2. G. Harbottle
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Holmes, L.L., Harbottle, G. Old stones, new science. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 248, 75–79 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010626024391

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