Dating Historical Buildings: An Update on the Possibilities of Absolute Dating Methods

Multi-proxy studies (including sedimentological, pedological, radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating methods) were used to establish origin and chronology of depositional processes in the type section Mierzyn, central Poland. The investigated key site is located in the extraglacial zone of the Last Glaciation, ca. 130 km to the south from the Last Glacial Maximum in the Luci&#261;&#380;a river valley area. In the studied profile (16 m thick) two lithofacial complexes were identified. The lower, fluvio-aeolian complex consists of silty-sandy sediments (1.6 m) deposited. The final phase of fluvio-aeolian deposition is expressed by initial pedogenic processes. Above is located aeolian complex (13 m of thickness). Three aeolian units are separated by two palaeosols.To establish stratigraphic framework of depositional and pedogenic processes, four samples for radiocarbon dating from palaeosols and twelve samples for OSL dating from sandy units were collected. The obtained results reveal very good agreement of both absolute dating methods. It led to reconstruct chronology of main palaeoenvironmental changes. The fluvio-aeolian complex and the lowermost part of aeolian complex (below the lower palaeosol) were deposited in the Oldest Dryas in relatively cool and dry climate conditions. The amelioration of climate in the B&#248;lling interstadial caused development of pedogenic processes expressed by 0.3 m thick palaeosol. Main part of aeolian complex (10 m of thickness) was deposited in the Older Dryas. The upper palaeosol developed in the Aller&#248;d interstadial as a result of the next amelioration of the climate. During the Younger Dryas was deposited the uppermost part of aeolian complex.Classic development of fluvial to- aeolian succession in the Mierzyn site as well as detailed chronology based on two independent absolute age methods reveal that it can be treated as stratotype for the Late Glacial and correlated with other type sections in the Central and Western Europe.AckowledgmentsPresented results were obtained with support of Polish National Science Centre, contract number 2018/30/E/ST10/00616.&#160;

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Mortar Dating Methodology: Assessing Recurrent Issues and Needs for Further Research

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/rdc.2017.129 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 59 (6) ◽

pp. 1859-1871 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Roald Hayen ◽

Mark Van Strydonck ◽

Laurent Fontaine ◽

Mathieu Boudin ◽

Alf Lindroos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sample Preparation ◽

Optically Stimulated Luminescence ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Preparation Methods ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Set Up ◽

Intercomparison Study ◽

Sample Preparation Methods ◽

Historic Stone

AbstractAbsolute dating of mortars is crucial when trying to pin down construction phases of archaeological sites and historic stone buildings to a certain point in time or to confirm, but possibly also challenge, existing chronologies. To evaluate various sample preparation methods for radiocarbon (14C) dating of mortars as well as to compare different dating methods, i.e. 14C and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), a mortar dating intercomparison study (MODIS) was set up, exploring existing limits and needs for further research. Four mortar samples were selected and distributed among the participating laboratories: one of which was expected not to present any problem related to the sample preparation methodologies for anthropogenic lime extraction, whereas all others addressed specific known sample preparation issues. Data obtained from the various mortar dating approaches are evaluated relative to the historical framework of the mortar samples and any deviation observed is contextualized to the composition and specific mineralogy of the sampled material.

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The Characterization of Obsidian and its application to the Mediterranean Region

Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society ◽

10.1017/s0079497x00015097 ◽

1964 ◽

Vol 30 ◽

pp. 111-133 ◽

Cited By ~ 118

Author(s):

J. R. Cann ◽

Colin Renfrew

Keyword(s):

Raw Materials ◽

Cultural Groups ◽

The Past ◽

Characterization Study ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Comprehensive Survey ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Place Of Origin ◽

Materials Used

Evidence of contact between cultural groups is of great importance to the study of prehistory. Although the development of absolute dating methods has decreased our dependence on the discovery of such contacts for chronology, they are essential material when the origin and spread of culture is being studied. In the past, cultural contacts have generally been demonstrated by typological similarities of artifacts, but unfortunately many typological comparisons are open to discussion, and it can be exceedingly difficult to be certain of direct contact by this means alone.The importance in this respect of the study of raw materials used in places far from their place of origin and presumably deliberately imported has long been realized. Recently more attention has been paid to the careful characterization of such materials; the detection, that is, of properties of the specimen under study which are characteristic of material from particular sources. By this means it is often possible to assign a source to a given specimen. The petrological identification of British neolithic stone axes is perhaps the most comprehensive archaeological characterization study yet undertaken. Demonstrations of trading links made by such methods, if based on a sure identification and a comprehensive survey of possible sources, are not open to the criticism and doubt which may be directed at typological similarities. The variety of techniques now available for the analysis and identification of materials makes this field a promising one for the archaeologist.

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The quest for an absolute chronology in human prehistory: anthropologists, chemists and the fluorine dating method in palaeoanthropology

The British Journal for the History of Science ◽

10.1017/s000708740800157x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 95-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

MATTHEW R. GOODRUM ◽

CORA OLSON

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Significant Advance ◽

Prehistoric Archaeology ◽

Fossil Bone ◽

Argon Dating ◽

Early Twentieth Century ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Dating Method

AbstractBy the early twentieth century there was a growing need within palaeoanthropology and prehistoric archaeology to find a way of dating fossils and artefacts in order to know the age of specific specimens, but more importantly to establish an absolute chronology for human prehistory. The radiocarbon and potassium–argon dating methods revolutionized palaeoanthropology during the last half of the twentieth century. However, prior to the invention of these methods there were attempts to devise chemical means of dating fossil bone. Collaborations between Emile Rivière and Adolphe Carnot in the 1890s led to the development of the fluorine dating method, but it was not until the 1940s that this method was improved and widely implemented by Kenneth Oakley to resolve a number of problems in palaeoanthropology, including the Piltdown Man controversy. The invention of the fluorine dating method marked a significant advance in the quest for absolute dating in palaeoanthropology, but it also highlights interesting problems and issues relating to the ability of palaeoanthropologists and chemists to bring together different skills and bodies of knowledge in order successfully to develop and apply the fluorine dating method.

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Challenging the Traditional Chronological Framework of Funerary Rituals in the Meuse-Demer-Scheldt Region: 14C Results from the Site of Lummen-Meldert (Belgium)

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200049511 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 56 (02) ◽

pp. 461-468

Author(s):

Guy De Mulder ◽

Guido Creemers ◽

Mark Van Strydonck

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Late Iron Age ◽

Size Number ◽

Specific Category ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Different Types ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Middle Iron Age

Archaeologists tend to use typochronological frameworks to date their sites. These are based on the appearance of certain cultural markers such as grave types or houseplans. In the Meuse-Demer-Scheldt region, a chronological framework is used for the cremation cemeteries from the Middle Bronze Age until the Late Iron Age based on the size, number, and presence of different types of cremation graves. Radiocarbon dating of cremated bone from the small cemetery at Lummen-Meldert dates this site to the Late Bronze Age. These results challenge the hypothesis that small cremation cemeteries with mostly “unurned” graves date to the Middle Iron Age. The cremation graves without an urn and grave goods are a specific category that has to be dated by absolute dating methods such as14C. The results also suggest a connection with the funerary traditions in the Atlantic region.

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An Introduction to the Continental Record of the Laurentide Ice Sheet

Géographie physique et Quaternaire ◽

10.7202/032677ar ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 187-188 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Denis A. St-Onge

Keyword(s):

Radiocarbon Dating ◽

Ice Sheet ◽

Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Ice Retreat ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Age Estimates

ABSTRACT The record of the Laurentide Ice Sheet is not well preserved in terrestrial deposits. Sediment sequences are incomplete and few record events older than the last ice retreat. Furthermore, in the absence of absolute dating methods for deposits older than the limit of radiocarbon dating, units are generally assigned a chronostratigraphic position by "counting from the top". As a result age estimates of many units can differ significantly between authors.

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Absolute Dating of Recent Sediments in the Cyclone-influenced Shelf Area Off Bangladesh: Comparison of Gamma Spectrometric (137Cs, 210Pb, 228Ra), Radiocarbon, and 32Si Ages

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200041588 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 43 (2B) ◽

pp. 917-927 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Axel Suckow ◽

Uwe Morgenstern ◽

Herrmann-Rudolf Kudrass

Keyword(s):

Sediment Load ◽

Sediment Cores ◽

River System ◽

Sedimentation Rates ◽

Shelf Area ◽

Sediment Reworking ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Recent Sediments ◽

The Ganges

A geochronological survey of the Bengal shelf area involved results from more than 20 sediment cores dated using gamma spectrometry and the nuclides 137Cs, 228Ra, 226Ra, and 210Pb. In some cores, which contained older sediments, 32Si and 14C were determined to examine the possibility to extrapolate the obtained chronologies to century and millennial scale. Geochronological work in this region is faced with problems of cyclone-induced sediment reworking, grain-size effects on fallout nuclides, scarcity of carbonates, unknown 14C reservoir effect and sedimentation rates that are too high to obtain sediment cores long enough to establish a chronology. Despite these problems, comparison between the results of the different dating methods provided the most reliable sediment balance to date for the submarine delta of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system and indicated that on a time scale of several centuries at least 35% of the annual sediment load is deposited.

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Fault gouge dating: history and evolution

Clay Minerals ◽

10.1180/clm.2018.22 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 53 (3) ◽

pp. 305-324 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Peter Vrolijk ◽

David Pevear ◽

Michael Covey ◽

Allan LaRiviere

Keyword(s):

Radiometric Dating ◽

Thrust Belts ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Process Studies ◽

Encapsulation Method ◽

Absolute Age ◽

Fault Gouges ◽

Fault Gouge Dating ◽

Further Development

ABSTRACTRadiometric dating of fault gouges has become a useful tool for regional tectonics studies and for exploring and understanding fault and earthquake processes. Methods to define the absolute age of faults achieved a solid scientific foundation almost 25 years ago when the development and application of illite age analysis for investigating sedimentary burial and thermal histories found a new potential application – defining the age of fold-and-thrust development. Since then, the methods have benefitted from further development and incorporation of the 40Ar/39Ar micro-encapsulation method and quantitative clay mineral evaluation to distinguish polytypes (Wildfire). These refinements to the methods have improved their application in fold-and-thrust terrains and have opened up applications in normal and strike-slip fault environments. Another important development is the use of absolute dating methods in retrograde clay gouges in which clays in a fault develop from igneous or metamorphic wall rocks that contain no clays. In addition, the method has also been shown to be useful at dating folds in fold-and-thrust belts. We think the method is now an established part of the geological toolkit, look forward to future fault structural and tectonic studies that incorporate fault ages and hope that researchers continue to probe and discover ways that the method can assist fault process studies, including earthquake fault studies.

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Tafonomia em cavernas brasileiras: histórico e método de coleta de fósseis preservados em solo carbonatado

Terrae Didatica ◽

10.20396/td.v14i1.8652042 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 49-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

André Gomide Vasconcelos ◽

Bruno Machado Kraemer ◽

Karin Elise Bohns Meyer

Keyword(s):

Chemical Analysis ◽

Quaternary Deposits ◽

Collection Method ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Xix Century ◽

Innovative Techniques

Among fossiliferous quaternary deposits, caves are foremost in interest, in relation to richness as well as diversity of fossils preserved therein. The goals of this study are: (i) to review taphonomic research involving paleovertebrates collected in Brazilian caves, and (ii) to propose a controlled collection method for fossils in carbonate soils. The studies about Brazilian paleovertebrate taphonomy in caves began in the XIX century. Until the 1990s, they were conducted in low priority, restricted to taxonomic and paleoenvironmental aspects. After the 1990s, taphonomic studies became more relevant. They were then applied in quaternary deposits in many Brazilian states and used innovative techniques, e.g., chemical analysis and absolute dating methods. Fossil collecting demonstrated satisfactory results in carbonate soils. This technique safely removes bones without causing damage, and spatially reconstructs their location in the substrate, allowing detailed taphonomic interpretations.

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Chronostratigraphy of Late Glacial aeolian activity in SW Poland – A case study from the Niemodlin Plateau

Geochronometria ◽

10.2478/geochr-2020-0015 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 124-137

Author(s):

Piotr Moska ◽

Zdzisław Jary ◽

Robert Jan Sokołowski ◽

Grzegorz Poręba ◽

Jerzy Raczyk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Changes ◽

Younger Dryas ◽

Soil Formation ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Sedimentary Environments ◽

Three Samples ◽

Aeolian Activity ◽

Dating Methods ◽

Absolute Dating ◽

Sw Poland

AbstractThe stratigraphy of Late Pleniglacial and Late Glacial fluvio-to-aeolian succession was investigated in two sites located at the Niemodlin Plateau, SW Poland. Lithofacial analysis was used for the reconstruction of sedimentary environments. An absolute chronology for climatic change and the resulting environmental changes were determined based on optically stimulated luminescence (OSL – nine samples) and radiocarbon (three samples) dating methods. Four phases of changes in sedimentary environments were established. The first depositional phase correlates with the Last Permafrost Maximum (24−17 ka) based on the type and size of the periglacial structures, which aggraded under continuous permafrost conditions. During 17.5−15.5 ka (upper Late Pleniglacial), a stratigraphic gap was detected, owing to a break in the deposition on the interfluve area. The second depositional phase took place during 15.5−13.5 ka. During this phase, the first part of the dune formation (Przechód site) and fluvio-aeolian cover (Siedliska site) was deposited. The sedimentary processes continued throughout the entire Bølling interstadial and Older Dryas. In the third phase (Allerød interstadial), soil formation took place. At the Siedliska site, palaeosol represented Usselo soil type, whereas at the Przechód site, there was a colluvial type of soil. The last phase (Younger Dryas) is represented by the main phase of dune formation in both sites. After the Younger Dryas, no aeolian activity was detected. High compliance with both absolute dating methods was noticed.

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