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TOWARDS A NEW APPROACH TO ARCHAEOMAGNETIC DATING IN EUROPE USING GEOMAGNETIC FIELD MODELLING*
Author(s) -
LODGE A.,
HOLME R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00400.x
Subject(s) - archaeomagnetic dating , earth's magnetic field , geology , secular variation , variation (astronomy) , geomagnetic secular variation , consistency (knowledge bases) , field (mathematics) , geodesy , geophysics , mathematics , geometry , physics , quantum mechanics , magnetic field , astrophysics , geomagnetic storm , pure mathematics
We introduce a new approach to producing secular variation curves for archaeomagnetic dating, using global geomagnetic field modelling techniques. Using published palaeosecular variation curves for five European locations as input, and a previous global model for regularization, we produce a model for the period ad 0–1900, which reproduces the input curves within their 95% confidence intervals, and successfully fits data from other regions in Europe. Our global model performs as well as a previous regional model, but additionally ensures consistency with physical constraints. We show that the curves currently used for dating are not mutually consistent, and therefore that in the future this new approach will provide more reliable curves for archaeomagnetic dating.