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Installation age of limestone masonry determined from its viscous remagnetization
Author(s) -
Borradaile Graham John,
Almqvist Bjarne Sven
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.20088
Subject(s) - geology , masonry , remanence , earth's magnetic field , calibration , archaeomagnetic dating , magnetization , geophysics , paleontology , seismology , archaeology , magnetic field , history , physics , quantum mechanics
Many rocks passively acquire some time‐dependent or “viscous” remanent magnetism (VRM) at ambient temperatures, without any extraordinary energetic intervention. This magnetization overprints existing remanent magnetization so that it is effectively a remagnetization subparallel to the contemporary geomagnetic field, averaging the geomagnetic field orientation. Certain limestone masonry remagnetizes viscously over an archaeologically useful interval (100 to 8000 Ka) so that the degree of remagnetization is monotonically (but not linearly) related to the construction age. The laboratory unblocking temperature (T UB ) that removes the viscous magnetization is a simple monotonic measure of relative age. The longer a piece of masonry remained stabilized in a certain orientation, the greater is its viscous remagnetization and the higher is its T UB . Monuments of known age with a similar limestone source permit us to establish a calibration curve of T UB against historical ages. The resulting calibration curve may then be used to predict the ages of otherwise‐undated masonry. Viscous remanent magnetism dating provides precision of <50a in medieval monuments in England and <150a precision for classical to Neolithic monuments in Cyprus; precision depends on the remagnetization rate of the limestone in question. Our calibration curves, for the Jurassic Oolitic Limestone of England and for the Lefkara‐Pakhna Chalks of Cyprus, allowed us to investigate the authenticity of a medieval English synagogue in Lincoln, England, and of a medieval house in Cyprus. Multiple archaeologic VRMs show that masonry was recycled in historical times. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.