Visualization of chemical composition in the Terengganu’s inscribed stone using neutron induced prompt gamma­ray techniques: A Monte Carlo simulation study

J. Abdullah1, V. Mosorov2, R. Yahya1, N. S. Dahing1, M. R. Shari1, A. M. Terry1

1 Industrial Technology Division, Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Malaysia 2 Computer Engineering Department, Technical University of Lodz, 90­924 Lodz, Poland mosorow@kis.p.lodz.pl

ABSTRACT

“Batu Bersurat (inscribed stone) Terengganu” is the oldest artefact and it is very important in the history of Malaysian civilisation. The artefact proves that the Kingdom of Terengganu exist earlier than 1326 or 1386. It was accidentally discovered in Kuala Berang, Terengganu, Malaysia after a flash flood hit Kuala Berang. The inscription turned out to be a proclamation issued by the "Sri Paduka Tuan" of Terengganu. Due to invaluable historical values, the stone is now gazetted as a world heritage by the UNESCO.

Many methods are being developed by scientists, archaeologists and historians to study different aspects of the inscribed stone. One of the projects is to develop an advanced non­intrusive technique to identify the type of stone and to predict its provenance by visualising the chemical composition. The paper describes some of the early results of Monte Carlo simulation (using MCNP Code Version 5 code package) obtained on two types of stones, namely Dolerite and Granite which are most likely the river boulders used for making the inscribed stone.

Keywords Monte Carlo simulation, Prompt gamma­ray, Terengganu stone, archaeology