Description
Abstract
Luminescence dating estimates the time elapsed since a sample (e.g. sediment or ceramic) was last exposed to heat or sunlight by measuring its paleodose or absorbed dose and dose rate [1]. In the case of ceramics, it is also possible to infer the maximum temperature achieved during their production process [2]. Ceramic sherds collected on a surface survey in an unexcavated kiln area of Villa Cardílio, a Roman amphora production center in Torres Novas, were analyzed as a study case [3]. The study aims to explore past firing techniques, how the quartz grains extracted from these ceramics act as a luminescence dosimeter, and the influence of heating process in ceramic mineralogy and in luminescence signals used for dating.
X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to identify and semi-quantify the mineralogical assemblage of ceramic paste. Thermally/optically stimulated luminescence (TL/OSL) dosimetry on coarse quartz grains (160-250 µm) from ceramics were used to determine the absorbed dose and explore quartz dosimetric properties performed under different conditions.
According to the the semi-quantitative analysis and the OSL results, sample AB-5 appears to have been exposed to higher temperatures and longer heating durations than the other six samples. The TL measurements were performed using three optical filters (Hoya-340, BG3/BG39 and Corning 7-59). The results show that the Corning 7-59 filter yields the highest TL signal intensity. Future prospects include a systematic comparison of methods and conditions to conclude which are the most suitable to determine the absorbed dose, as well as applying this methodological framework to samples with different chronologies and production technologies.
References
[1] M. J. Aitken, “Archaeological dating using physical phenomena,” Reports on Progress in Physics, vol. 62, p. 1333–1376, Aug. 1999.
[2] J. R. Vidal-Romani et al., “Tl estimation of ages of pottery fragments recovered from granite caves in the nw coast of spain,” Cuadernos Laboratoiro Xeoloxico de Laxe, vol. 37, pp. 73–88, 07 2013.
[3] V. Filipe et al., “Villa Cardílio (Torres Novas, Portugal), um novo centro produtor de ânforas romanas no Médio Vale do Tejo,” 2025.
| Field of Research/Work | Beyond Physics |
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