Use of Monte Carlo simulations for cultural heritage X-ray fluorescence analysis

•We present an application of fast Monte Carlo codes for Cultural Heritage artifact analysis.•We show applications to complex multilayer structures.•The methods allow estimating both the composition and the thickness of multilayer, such as bronze with patina.•The performance in terms of accuracy and uncertainty is described for the bronze samples.

The analytical study of Cultural Heritage objects often requires merely a qualitative determination of composition and manufacturing technology. However, sometimes a qualitative estimate is not sufficient, for example when dealing with multilayered metallic objects. Under such circumstances a quantitative estimate of the chemical contents of each layer is sometimes required in order to determine the technology that was used to produce the object. A quantitative analysis is often complicated by the surface state: roughness, corrosion, incrustations that remain even after restoration, due to efforts to preserve the patina. Furthermore, restorers will often add a protective layer on the surface. In all these cases standard quantitative methods such as the fundamental parameter based approaches are generally not applicable. An alternative approach is presented based on the use of Monte Carlo simulations for quantitative estimation.