SEAHA student Hayley Simon alongside her supervisors and researchers from SEAHA partner Diamond Light Source have published research on synchrotron techniques to study iron cannonballs from the Mary Rose in Angewandte Chemie.
The work combines multiple X-ray based methods to probe the inner workings of iron artefacts following 35 years of conservation treatments. The study focuses on looking at the chlorine content of the cannonballs; mapping how the element is distributed across the objects and identifying the species of chlorine present. This has given an unprecedented insight into the impact of conservation on a molecular scale, crucial information that will help protect this cultural heritage for many decades to come.
The work has also received significant media coverage and was featured on BBC News, and the Smithsonian Magazine.
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Hayley Simon is a SEAHA PhD student based at UCL Institute of Archaeology who researches iron corrosion in cannonballs from the Mary Rose. She is supported by partners the Mary Rose Trust, Diamond Light Source, & Eura Conservation Ltd.
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