M. Járó - L. Költő szerk.: Archaeometrical research in Hungary (Budapest, 1988)

Analysis - BIRÓ Tamás: Nuclear methods in archaeometry developed in the Institute of Isotopes

as enamels, can be completely shielded. However, it is most unlikely that enamels would be damaged, as similar glassy materials have already been routinely analysed by XRF in many countries and no deterious effects have been reported. The knowledge of the composition of the enamels might provide us with the most valuable information on historical and technological problems. XRF was also used to help in the authenticity studies of paintings. For example a presumably M. Barabás painting was investigated and compared with another, authentic one obtained from the Hungarian National Gallery [3], The same colours in the two pictures had identical or similar compositions and Ti could be detected only at visible repairs (see Fig. 1). Consequently, this investigation did not reject the hypothesis that the painting was authentic. It is noted that it was not possible to locate Pb easily in the paints as the priming also contained Pb. It would be worth developing this method: perhaps by a-ray excitation one could even resolve layers. K5 N6 N5 Fig.l Comparative XRF spectra obtained on the red colours of paintings ofM. Barabás Further interesting applications of XRF were in numismatics. Upon the request of the Hungarian National Museum coins minted by King Salamon and by Géza I (10631077) as duke and later as king, have been compared (see Fig. 2) Although it is not an easy task to interpret the results, these could be an aid to studying sources, workshops and technologies. Another investigation was carried out upon the request of the Histo-