CAT scanning and terra cotta

Barbara Appelbaum <aandh [at] mindspring__com> writes

>I have a problem concerning the examination of an archaeological
>terra cotta.  I am looking into the possibility of having it
>CAT-scanned, but don't know whether normal X-rays (if that is what
>is used) would penetrate up to about 12 inches of terra cotta.  I
>would appreciate hearing from someone with experience that would
>shed light on this.

It may be possible to use CT to study such an object. What is total
size of this object? The medical CT has a limit because it was built
for humans and not a terra cotta.

Also it is important to be clear what you are looking for in the
terra cotta--why CT? Too many people have tried to use CT and could
not make heads or tails from the results. This is because they did
not know how to scan this type of material (clay/ceramics) and also
because they could not understand properly the results. This I
should be able to help you with.

Nachum Applbaum


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:10
                Distributed: Wednesday, August 17, 2005
                       Message Id: cdl-19-10-008
                                  ***