The Pt L 3 -edge X-ray absorption spectrum of Pt atoms generated in a hollow cathode sputtering device and trapped in an Ar matrix yielded a Pt-Ar distance of 3.78(4) Å with a coordination number of ca. 12 which confirms the evidence from electronic absorption spectroscopy that Pt atoms occupy a substitutional site in the Ar lattice. These data also yield a van der Waals radius for Pt atoms of 1.90 Å. The Pd K-edge X-ray absorption spectrum of sputtered Pd atoms trapped in an Ar matrix is radically different to that for Pt atoms. This contains a much shorter Pd-Ar distance of 2.53(3) Å with a low coordination number close to 1, together with an "atomic" EXAFS like spectrum with no significant oscillations indicating the absence of any well defined nearest neighbours. On annealing to 25 K, the 2.53(3) Å interaction essentially disappears to leave the "atomic" spectrum. The featureless "atomic" spectrum is associated with Pd 1 S 0 atoms in an argon substitutional site, or other site such as a grain boundary with high disorder. The short Pd-Ar distance of 2.53(3) Å is consistent with Pd atoms with a 1 S 0 atomic ground state in an interstitial octahedral site, the formation of a PdAr n exciplex with a short Pd-Ar distance, or the formation of a more formal palladium