# X-ray fluorescence · Concept

> Telling what elements a surface contains from the X-rays it gives off when illuminated.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW0531CR4/x-ray-fluorescence  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Concepts](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts)X-ray fluorescence

Concept · imaging · in 4 mysteries

# X-ray fluorescence

Telling what elements a surface contains from the X-rays it gives off when illuminated.

[Archimedes Palimpsest](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/archimedes-palimpsest)[Gallo-Roman dodecahedra](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/roman-dodecahedra)[Cascajal block and Isthmian writing](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cascajal-block)

A beam of X-rays makes each element in a surface emit X-rays of its own at characteristic energies, so a detector can read the elements present without touching the object. It identifies inks and pigments on manuscripts, metals in artifacts and residues in pits, and on this site is the method behind many of the material facts about the Voynich Manuscript, the Nebra Sky Disc and the Antikythera Mechanism.

## Where it comes up

**[Archimedes Palimpsest](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/archimedes-palimpsest)**

Multispectral imaging and X-ray fluorescence together recovered the Archimedes undertext on every surviving leaf, including under the forged paintings, to a standard that supports a full transcription.

[Multispectral imaging and X-ray fluorescence together recovered the Archimedes undertext on every surviving…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/archimedes-palimpsest/answers/ANS0CT7N5AY4MXG/multispectral-imaging-and-x-ray-fluorescence-together)

**[Gallo-Roman dodecahedra](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/roman-dodecahedra)**

The Norton Disney example, about 8 cm across and 245 g, has round holes framed by knobs and shows no wear; X-ray fluorescence gave roughly 75% copper, 7% tin and 18% lead .

**[Cascajal block and Isthmian writing](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cascajal-block)**

Since then the work has gone two ways. Englehardt and colleagues examined the stone with imaging, X-ray fluorescence and microscopy and found Olmec material and ancient workmanship .

**[Lost Colony of Roanoke](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke)**

In 2024 the First Colony Foundation reported that a copper earring from the Elizabethan Gardens was of European copper, which it ties to the Algonquian village of Roanoac and the 1584–1586 contacts, not to the 1587…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). X-ray fluorescence [Concept CPT0DECW0531CR4]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPT0DECW0531CR4
```

Key

**CPT** 0DECW0531CR4

Record

Concept

Field

Imaging

Related

[Multispectral imaging](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW04XSKZP/multispectral-imaging)

Version

2

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[ Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q835054)

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Related concepts

[Multispectral imaging](https://mysteriesdept.com/concepts/CPT0DECW04XSKZP/multispectral-imaging)

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