Bronze analysis by k 0 -NAA and PIXE

Five copper alloys were prepared with modern powder metallurgical processes in the frame of the European project “Improvement of Means of Measurement on Archaeological Copper-Alloys for Characterisation and Conservation (IMMACO)” and certified for As, Pb, Sn and Zn mass fractions. Similar in their composition to archaeological bronze alloys, these Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) are to be used for calibration of XRF instruments for characterization of archaeological samples either in the laboratory or in the field. This paper presents and compares the successful contribution of our non-destructive analytical methods (k0-NAA and PIXE) to the IMMACO project and to the certification of the five reference materials.