Vertical irradiation channel of the VR-1 training reactor of the Department of Nuclear Reactors CTU was used for activation analysis of historical samples from the 14th to the 19th century. For determination of mass fractions of materials such as copper, gold and silver in irradiated samples, the relative method of activation analysis was used. Further, a set of 24 activation detectors of 12 various materials served for the determination of neutron spectrum of the VR-1 reactor using analytical method; moreover the analytical solution was compared to unfolded spectrum obtained from SAND-II deconvolution program.