Computed tomography in use for researching prehistoric artefacts

Millions of years in the past

X-ray-based computed tomography is often used when quality engineers want to take a non-destructive look inside complex assemblies. Thanks to its high radiation energy, it is also suitable for very dense materials, while at the same time offering very high resolutions. Reason enough to try out the technology on fossilised objects. With success, as a look outside the box shows.

What do you do if you are a scientist and want to analyse the bones of a lion's skull around the inner ear? One option: you take the skull of a dead lion, saw it open and look inside. But what if the skull to be analysed is millions of years old and also an irretrievable unique specimen? Sawing it up is probably out of the question.

A TomoScope® XS Plus with a new sub-microfocus tube is used for the highly accurate digitisation of the unique research objects, which was jointly funded by the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts (HMWK, as part of the ERDF) and the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung's own funds (including SOSA).

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