Obtaining archaeointensity data from British Neolithic pottery : A feasibility study
Allington, Megan L. LU
; Batt, Catherine M.
; Hill, Mimi J.
; Nilsson, Andreas
LU
; Biggin, Andrew J.
and Card, Nick
(2021)
In Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
37.
- Abstract
There is a significant lack of geomagnetic field strength (archaeointensity) measurements for many archaeological time periods in the United Kingdom (UK). This not only makes past geomagnetic secular variation difficult to model but also limits the development of archaeointensity dating. This paper presents the first archaeointensity study on UK Neolithic material. In this study, twenty-five sherds of Neolithic Grooved Ware pottery from the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney, UK, some with direct radiocarbon dates, were subjected to a full archaeomagnetic investigation with the aim of increasing the amount of archaeointensity data for the UK. Both thermal Thellier and microwave palaeointensity experiments were used to determine which technique... (More)
There is a significant lack of geomagnetic field strength (archaeointensity) measurements for many archaeological time periods in the United Kingdom (UK). This not only makes past geomagnetic secular variation difficult to model but also limits the development of archaeointensity dating. This paper presents the first archaeointensity study on UK Neolithic material. In this study, twenty-five sherds of Neolithic Grooved Ware pottery from the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney, UK, some with direct radiocarbon dates, were subjected to a full archaeomagnetic investigation with the aim of increasing the amount of archaeointensity data for the UK. Both thermal Thellier and microwave palaeointensity experiments were used to determine which technique would be most suitable for British Neolithic pottery. Three successful archaeointensity results between 35 and 40μT were obtained using thermal Thellier method, which is consistent with the limited data available within a 15° radius and geomagnetic field model predictions from the same time. We separated the results into four different types with an intention of explaining the behaviours that determine the likelihood of achieving an acceptable archaeointensity estimate. The feasibility of obtaining geomagnetic field strength information during the UK Neolithic from ceramics has been demonstrated and the results provide a solid basis for improving our knowledge of geomagnetic secular variation during archaeological time in Britain.
(Less)
- author
- Allington, Megan L.
LU
; Batt, Catherine M.
; Hill, Mimi J.
; Nilsson, Andreas
LU
; Biggin, Andrew J.
and Card, Nick
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Archaeointensity, Geomagnetic secular variation, Grooved ware, Neolithic
- in
- Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
- volume
- 37
- article number
- 102895
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85102285501
- ISSN
- 2352-409X
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102895
- project
- Improving archaeomagnetic dating through new data acquisition and method development
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0ae15be5-3412-4ba7-9373-9988427a4bd8
- date added to LUP
- 2021-03-23 10:49:56
- date last changed
- 2023-04-11 08:11:57
@article{0ae15be5-3412-4ba7-9373-9988427a4bd8,
abstract = {{<p>There is a significant lack of geomagnetic field strength (archaeointensity) measurements for many archaeological time periods in the United Kingdom (UK). This not only makes past geomagnetic secular variation difficult to model but also limits the development of archaeointensity dating. This paper presents the first archaeointensity study on UK Neolithic material. In this study, twenty-five sherds of Neolithic Grooved Ware pottery from the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney, UK, some with direct radiocarbon dates, were subjected to a full archaeomagnetic investigation with the aim of increasing the amount of archaeointensity data for the UK. Both thermal Thellier and microwave palaeointensity experiments were used to determine which technique would be most suitable for British Neolithic pottery. Three successful archaeointensity results between 35 and 40μT were obtained using thermal Thellier method, which is consistent with the limited data available within a 15° radius and geomagnetic field model predictions from the same time. We separated the results into four different types with an intention of explaining the behaviours that determine the likelihood of achieving an acceptable archaeointensity estimate. The feasibility of obtaining geomagnetic field strength information during the UK Neolithic from ceramics has been demonstrated and the results provide a solid basis for improving our knowledge of geomagnetic secular variation during archaeological time in Britain.</p>}},
author = {{Allington, Megan L. and Batt, Catherine M. and Hill, Mimi J. and Nilsson, Andreas and Biggin, Andrew J. and Card, Nick}},
issn = {{2352-409X}},
keywords = {{Archaeointensity; Geomagnetic secular variation; Grooved ware; Neolithic}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports}},
title = {{Obtaining archaeointensity data from British Neolithic pottery : A feasibility study}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102895}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102895}},
volume = {{37}},
year = {{2021}},
}