Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics

Joint Laboratory Seminar

Leader – Shvetsov V.N.

Date and Time: Wednesday, 17 April 2019, at 11:30 AM

Venue: Conference hall (3rd floor), Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics

Seminar topic: «Natural sciences and archeology: history of interaction, results and prospects»

Speakers: Tatyana Panova (Doctor of Historical Sciences, archaeologist, the Moscow Kremlin State Historical and Cultural Museum and Heritage Site); Andrey Dmitriev (the NAA group leader, IREN, FLNP, JINR)

Abstract:

For more than a decade, archaeological monuments and works of art have been investigated by physical and chemical methods. They help to clarify the chronology of ancient cultures, to study the technologies of different eras and to identify the relationship of man and the natural environment throughout its existence on Earth.
One of the most interesting directions in the study of the past is rightly considered to clarify the causes of death of historical figures of the period of the Middle Ages and the New Age. In the middle of the 20th century, research allowed to clarify the circumstances of the death of Eric XIV of Sweden (died in 1577) and Charles II of England (died in 1585), to understand the cause of the “madness” of the great scientist Isaac Newton.
In recent years, Russian researchers, using isotope analysis, have helped archeologists reconstruct the nutrition systems (paleo-diets) of people (and animals!) of the Middle Ages. The database of the microelement composition of biological materials from the burials of the highest nobility of the XV-XVII centuries is also updated, which makes it possible to restore not only the fate of the characters of Russian history, but also the impact of their death on the course of events in the state.