Quantitative ion beam analysis of complex gold-based artefacts

Quantitative analysis of major and minor elements in a heavy matrix with high relief requires a perfect knowledge of the geometry of irradiation and detection. We discuss in this paper, the contribution of these geometrical factors for the investigation of gold jewellery items which were studied with PIXE, RBS and NRA. The combination of all these techniques is often necessary to give us sufficient information on the workmanship of ancient goldsmiths. Examples of application to artefacts from Macedonia and Colombia are given.