Advanced ion-beam analysis reveals age variations in disputed Jordan codices

The study, published in Elsevier’s Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B:  Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, finds that while some of the external pages of one of the books have been found to be contaminated by interactions with the environment, giving ambiguous age determination, inside pages are less contaminated and give clear scientific readings showing they are at least 200 years old, and possibly older. 

Working in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre and the University of Vienna, researchers applied four analytical techniques to samples from the books. These included trace-element analysis, lead-isotope measurements, alpha-particle tests and radiogenic helium analysis to assess the composition and likely age of the lead. No single method could determine a definitive age, but together they provide a more detailed picture of how different parts of the codices were made.  

Tests run to date do not allow for a definitive date older than 200 years, but do not rule out that possibility, opening the door to further analysis with even more accurate future testing. Although the study could not determine that the codices were created in the early Christian period, it was also not possible to show that they were of modern origin. However, a truly definitive test to determine the true age of the manufacture of the books requires further investigation due to substantial non-uniformity of the samples and a much higher degree of background contamination than was expected. 

The Surrey Ion Beam Centre is the lead site for the UK National Ion Beam Centre and is equipped with state-of-the-art ion implanters and analysis facilities used across disciplines ranging from quantum technologies to materials science and biosciences.  

As part of its mission, the centre also applies ion-beam techniques to cultural heritage and art conservation, including studies of timbers from the Cutty Sark and analyses used to assess whether a ‘Leonardoesque’ painting could be attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci. These capabilities allow researchers to investigate materials at microscopic and atomic scales, providing the precision needed for studies such as this.