Radiation studies of items of cultural heritage

When we see a piece of art or an archaeological object for the first time, a painting, a jewel, a sculpture or merely a simple piece of pottery on display in a museum or in an exhibition, we might be fascinated by its beauty or by its simplicity. However, many questions often arise in connection with such items on display, about its origin, its context, its provenance, its authenticity. Finding complete answers is a fully interdisciplinary task between art, humanities and natural sciences. With respect to the contribution from natural science, it often needs the application of just the best methods and techniques out of a multitude of possible options. Starting from a simple visual inspection with or without a magnifying glass, the techniques reach up to highly sophisticated and advanced methods developed in atomic physics, nuclear physics and chemistry, such as available at large scale facilities, and even biophysics. In the following, a condensed review is presented on recent research on cultural heritage objects using various radiation technique