Applying thermal demagnetization to archaeological materials: A tool for detecting burnt clay and estimating its firing temperature.

ABSTRACT: Burnt materials are very common in the archaeological record. Their identification and the reconstruction of their firing history are crucial for reliable archaeological interpretations. Commonly used methods are limited in their ability to identify and estimate heating temperatures below ~500⁰C and cannot reconstruct the orientation in which these materials were burnt. Stepwise thermal demagnetization is widely used in archaeomagnetism, but its use for identifying burnt materials and reconstructing paleotemperatures requires further experimental verification. Here we present an experimental test that has indicated that this method is useful for identifying the firing of mud bricks to 190⁰C or higher. Application of the method to oriented samples also enables reconstruction of the position

SUBMITTER: Vaknin Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10561874 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature