Abstract
An overview of physical investigations of cultural heritage samples using ion and laser beams performed in the frame of the international collaboration between the University of Messina (Italy) and the Nuclear Physics Institute-ASCR (Czech Republic) is presented. Solid samples are analysed in high vacuum using particle induced X-ray emission, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, elastic recoil detection analysis, prompt γ activation analysis, nuclear reaction analysis, laser ablation, mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and many more. The elemental composition of the sample, the trace elements, the depth profiles, the morphology and the comparison between samples and references are reported. Both electron and ion microbeams are employed to have details of the spatial distribution maps of elements of interest.