Question: What is the coolest thing you've ever scanned with lasers? Also, what is the coolest discovery you've ever made?

Rebecca Scott answered on 24 Jun 2013:

With the laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS or Laser Ablation – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry) I’ve mostly looked at the composition of glass, glazes and enamels. This is because the differences we look for in these materials are found in the trace elements and this machine is really good for looking at those.

With the pXRF (portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer, the thing that looks like a ray gun) I’ve looked at all sorts of things. One of the coolest objects was an Egyptian ‘thing’. We’re still not sure what it is, but we now know it is made of metal, possibly metal that was collected from a meteorite because of the composition of the metal. I also analysed a 17th century painted glass window in Oxford Cathedral, and that was really cool because I was able to identify which pieces of the window were original glass, which were late 17th century repairs and which were modern repairs. I’m hoping to take the machine to Turkey soon and analyse some material in the field.

In terms of discoveries, one of the most exciting was when the team I was excavating with discovered the body of a WWI Australian soldier. He had died in battle in 1918 and had all of his kit preserved with him. He was even carrying a souvenir of the war. Our team worked really hard and after many months we were able to identify him and he received a full military funeral. And the really cool bit is that I am now friends with some of his descendants.