In this thesis solid state semiconductor dosimetry is applied to the improvement of luminescence dating techniques (part 1) and quality assurance in high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT) cancer treatments (part 2). The aim of part 1 is the development, testing, and application of a novel method to measure spatially resolved dose rates in sediment samples using the Timepix pixelated detector. The Timepix contains an array of 256x256 pixels, each 55x55 μm in size and with its own preamplifier, discriminator and digital counter, and is able to provide the position and pixel-by-pixel count rate of the incident radiation. The development of a method to measure sediment samples and derive spatially resolved dose rates is described, followed by its application to sediment samples from Liang Bua and Denisova Cave archeological sites
