Recent trends in IBA for cultural heritage studies

In spite of the competition with portable devices and large facilities (such as synchrotron or neutron reactors), the IBA methods keep their interest due to the possibility of associating two or three of them according to the archaeological or art issue. In this article, some examples chosen for their original approach are presented: PIXE for X-radiography, provenance of prehistoric pigments and painting characterisation. They illustrate the useful versatility of IBA for cultural heritage studies. Perspectives for further improvements are also proposed.