15th International Conference on Muon Spin Rotation, Relaxation and Resonance

In the past years, in the framework of a successful collaboration between RIKEN-RAL and INFN, (CHNET-TANDEM collaboration) a series of experiments were carried out to optimize Muonic Atoms X-rays Spectroscopy as a non-invasive and non-destructive probe for quantitative elemental characterization of ancient metal artefacts of particular interest. We present the results on late Bronze-age artefacts found in Tuscany and a silver Portuguese ancient coin. A series of measurements on 2 bronze oil lamps, with the shape of small ships, found in Vetulonia in the Tomb of the "Tre Navicelle", part of the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence (n. inv. 6779; 6780) and on a Portuguese coin of the eighteenth century utilized for an IAEA inter comparison round robin were analysed. The goal was to determine the chemical composition of the samples with the possibility of carrying out both "superficial" and "bulk" measurements by elemental profiles from the sample surface to a depth of several millimetres.