Sculpture Analysis
     (Sfx: digging)
     WHEN AN ARCHAELOGIST UNCOVERS A BURIED STATUE, A MYSTERY BEGINS. 
THE NEXT STEP?  TO FIND OUT WHAT SOCIETY BUILT IT OR EVEN WHAT TEMPLE IT
ONCE GRACED.  BUT BURIED SCULTPURE IS NOT THE ONLY ART THAT HAS LOST ITS
HISTORY.  ART HISTORIANS ARE HARD PRESSED TO IDENTIFY THE BIRTHPLACE OF
MANY OF THE SCULPTURES ON DISPLAY IN MUSEUMS AROUND THE WORLD.  ENTER
SCIENCE TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM.  CHEMIST LORE HOLMES AND HER
COLLEAGUES FROM BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY HAS BEEN MATCHING
STONE SAMPLES FROM FRENCH MEDIEVAL SCULPTURE TO STONE QUARRIES IN
FRANCE. ART HISTORIANS CAN THEN GROUP DIFFERENT SETS OF STATUES TOGETHER
BASED ON WHETHER THEY WERE MADE FROM THE SAME TYPE OF STONE. SHE SAYS: 

     Holmes: "The judgement as to which monument it once decorated are made mainly on stylistic and
iconographic grounds and what we do adds . . . information to the curators' knowledge."

     HOLMES ANALYZES SAMPLES FROM THE SCULPTURE AND THE QUARRIES USING
A BASIC COLLEGE CHEMISTRY TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS NEUTRON ACTIVATION
ANALYSIS. SHE BOMBARDS THE STONE WITH A BEAM OF NEUTRONS FROM ONE OF THE
BROOKHAVEN PARTICLE ACCLERATORS.  THE ELECTRONS ADD ENERGY TO THE ATOMS
IN THE STONE. EACH ATOM THEN RELEASES THAT ENERGY, BUT IN A VERY SPECIFIC
WAY DEPENDING ON WHAT KIND OF ATOM, OR WHAT ELEMENT, IT IS. 
     
     Holmes: "As the. . . material decays it omits characteristic radiation which enables us to identify
which elements are present and how much of each element is present."

     BY COMPARING OVER TWENTY ELEMENTS IN THE SCULPTURE TO QUARRY
STONES, OR EVEN OTHER SCULPTURE, HOLMES CAN HELP NARROW DOWN WHERE IN
FRANCE A STATUE CAME FROM. SO AS ARCHAELOGISTS DIG UP MORE SCULPTURE,
HOLMES AND RESEARCHERS LIKE HER CAN USE CHEMISTRY TO HELP UNEARTH THEIR
HISTORY.