The strength of the Earth’s magnetic field from Pre-Pottery to Pottery Neolithic, Jordan

Chiara, Anita Di; Tauxe, Lisa; Levy, Thomas E.; Najjar, Mohammad; Florindo, Fabio; Ben‐Yosef, Erez

doi:10.1073/pnas.2100995118

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Another method which has been applied for the estimation of heating temperature is thermoluminescence [13][14][15][16]. Rock magnetism can also be applied for estimating firing temperature by measuring susceptibility, hysteresis parameters or isothermal and anhysteretic remanences [1,5,15,[17][18][19][20][21][22]. Such magnetic methods are limited in identifying materials heated to 300-400C or lower and in accurately estimating these low heating temperatures [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Vaknin,

Shaar,

Lipschits

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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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 in which they cooled down. Our algorithm for interpreting thermal demagnetization results was tested on 49 miniature sun-dried “mud bricks”, 46 of which were heated to a range of temperatures between 100⁰C to 700⁰C under a controlled magnetic field and three “bricks” which were not heated and used as a control group. The results enabled distinguishing between unheated material and material heated to at least 190⁰C and accurately recovering the minimum heating temperature of the latter. Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) on the same materials demonstrated how the two methods complement each other. We implemented the thermal demagnetization method on burnt materials from an Iron Age structure at Tell es-Safi/Gath (central Israel), which led to a revision of the previously published understanding of this archaeological context. We demonstrated that the conflagration occurred within the structure, and not only in its vicinity as previously suggested. We also showed that a previously published hypothesis that bricks were fired in a kiln prior to construction is very unlikely. Finally, we conclude that the destruction of the structure occurred in a single event and not in stages over several decades.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Vaknin,

Shaar,

Lipschits

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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“…The more conventional dating of archaeological contexts is based on typologies of material culture, especially ceramic and flint (e.g., [ 10 ]). This method also presents inherent difficulties, and usually provides an age range of a hundred years or even more.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An archaeomagnetic study of the Ishtar Gate, Babylon

Di Chiara,

Tauxe,

Gries

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Data from the marriage of paleomagnetism and archaeology (archaeomagnetism) are the backbone of attempts to create geomagnetic field models for ancient times. Paleointensity experimental design has been the focus of intensive efforts and the requirements and shortcomings are increasingly well understood. Some archaeological materials have excellent age control from inscriptions, which can be tied to a given decade or even a specific year in some cases. In this study, we analyzed fired mud bricks used for the construction of the Ishtar Gate, the entrance complex to the ancient city of Babylon in Southern Mesopotamia. We were able to extract reliable intensity data from all three phases of the gate, the earliest of which includes bricks inscribed with the name of King Nebuchadnezzar II (605 to 562 BCE). These results (1) add high quality intensity data to a region relatively unexplored so far (Southern Mesopotamia), (2) contribute to a better understanding of paleosecular variation in this region, and the development of an archaeomagnetic dating reference for one of the key regions in the history of human civilizations; (3) demonstrate the potential of inscribed bricks (glazed and unglazed), a common material in ancient Mesopotamia, to archaeomagnetic studies; and (4) suggest that the gate complex was constructed some time after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, and that there were no substantial chronological gaps in the construction of each consecutive phase. The best fit of our data (averaging 136±2.1 ZAm2) with those of the reference curve (the Levantine Archaeomagnetic Curve) is 569 BCE.

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Photogrammetric and GIS-Based Modeling of Rapid Sediment Erosion and Deposition on the Taskscape of Bronze Age Politiko-Troullia, Cyprus

Ridder,

Fall,

Falconer

2023

Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology

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The strength of the Earth’s magnetic field from Pre-Pottery to Pottery Neolithic, Jordan

Cited by 5 publications

References 65 publications

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

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

An archaeomagnetic study of the Ishtar Gate, Babylon

Photogrammetric and GIS-Based Modeling of Rapid Sediment Erosion and Deposition on the Taskscape of Bronze Age Politiko-Troullia, Cyprus

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