An approach to study the distribution of radon in natural materials containing radium

This work aims to test an approach to study the distribution of ²²²Rn in natural materials containing radium. This distribution could be of interest for studies of radon exhalation from building materials and for archaeological dating of ceramics. To model the distribution, the diffusion length of ²²²Rn in the material is needed. In the work a method to determine experimentally the diffusion length is presented and tested with samples of archaeological ceramics. The applicability of the approach is evaluated. Furthermore, it is shown that for different samples of archaeological ceramics from the same site different ratios of the activities of ²²²Rn and ²²⁶Ra are found. Therefore, equilibrium between ²²²Rn and ²²⁶Ra in ceramics could not be generally assumed. Such an assumption could potentially influence the dating of ceramics by luminescence methods.