The RICHeS team recently travelled to Northern Ireland to meet with the Queen’s University Belfast team delivering the Institute for Heritage and Environmental Science: 14CHRONO for RICHeS. This project, led by Dr Patrick Gleeson, further enhances the Institute for Heritage and Environmental Science (IHES)’s capacities to offer state-of-the-art laboratories for isotope geochemistry, materials characterisation, imaging and environmental modelling.
Investing in laboratory capabilities
Queen’s University Belfast’s 14CHRONO Centre is a leading high precision radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis laboratory. A major upgrade was supported by a £3 million investment from the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Capability for Collections (CapCo) fund. RICHeS builds on this to further enhance capabilities and enable access and leadership. By integrating advanced technologies, micro-CT imaging and evolved gas analysis, IHES will pioneer novel approaches in radiocarbon dating and chemical characterisation of museum collections. This will support researchers to answer questions around the character, technology and date of objects and materials.
Through RICHeS the team has purchased new state-of-the art equipment that will enable this work, including a Thermogravimetric Mass Spectrometer to assist in the characterisation of samples through Ramped Pyroxidation for radiocarbon dating. The new advancements also include a Phoenix V|tome| xS Computed Tomography (CT) Scanner. This technology is used to non-destructively scan the interior of objects and builds high resolution 3D models of the internal and external structure of the object while preserving the structure. Its size enables researchers to scan larger objects.
The impact of partnerships
During the visit, the team were pleased to meet with partners from National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI), with collaboration at the heart of the RICHeS programme. This established partnership has been central to recent work, including on ancient human remains discovered at Bellaghy in October 2023, now known as the “Ballymacombs More Woman”; analysis of this important find is ongoing. This is a great example of utilising heritage science to support collaborative research where identifying remains must be completed accurately and ethically. We look forward to seeing the research through this partnership continuing to grow with the enhanced capabilities.
Dr Patrick Gleeson shares:
“The RICHES grant has allowed us to develop highly novel and conservation-orientated approaches to characterisation and dating, that will have many impacts in unlocking the potential of heritage and museum collections. It allows us an incredible opportunity to continue working with our partners, National Museum of Northern Ireland, and beyond, to support innovation and heritage science more broadly across the United Kingdom and island of Ireland.”