Browsing by Subject "Archaeomagnetism"

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    Archaeomagnetic dating of bronze age pottery from Tell Mozan, Syria
    (2013-04) Stillinger, Michele D.
    The ancient city-state of Urkesh, located at Tell Mozan, Syria, was the political and religious center of the Hurrians, a unique culture that inhabited the northern Syro-Mesopotamian region during the 3rd millennium BCE. The chronology of Urkesh has been divided into seven primary occupational phases, dating from the Early Dynastic II period (2800-2500 BCE) to the Middle Babylonian/ Mitanni Period (1500-1300 BCE). The site has provided an abundance of distinguishing ceramics, seals, seal impressions, and cuneiform tablets, which serve as the foundation for the Urkesh chronology. Working under the assumption that the archaeologically derived chronology at Mozan was reliable, this research tested the accuracy of archaeomagnetic dating using pottery samples from six successive occupational phases. Samples underwent a suite of magnetic mineral characterization tests and archaeointensity measurements using the Thellier-style absolute paleointensity technique of Tauxe and Staudigel (2004). Archaeointensity experiments displayed an 88% success rate and 80% of the samples correlated well with their archaeologically determined dates. A small subset of samples appeared to indicate a possible intensity spike occurring around 2000 BCE. The final results refine the archaeointensity curve for Syria between 2350 and 1200 BCE.
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    Archaeomagnetism as a Geochronological Tool: Dating a Levantine Iron Age Conflagration
    (2018-06) Stillinger, Michele D.
    Meaningful interpretation of past human culture requires an accurate chronology that can be correlated with our modern calendar. The timing of seminal events during the Levantine Iron Age (~ 1200 to 600 BCE) is hotly debated because conventional dating methods are fraught with subjective interpretations and analytical inaccuracies. This research uses archaeomagnetism, a subfield of paleomagnetism, as an alternative geochronological dating technique. Utilizing traditional archaeomagnetic materials (e.g. pottery) and testing new geologically based materials (ancient bread ovens called tabuns), a new Near East Archaeomagnetic Dating Curve (NEAC) was constructed to date four occupational deposits and a large conflagration at the Iron Age village of Khirbet Summeily, Israel. The results indicate that the destruction was likely associated with the 925 BCE Egyptian military campaign of Sheshonq I (22nd Dynasty). In addition, a new high in geomagnetic field intensity was measured that confirms the recently identified 8th Century BCE intensity spike for the region. This research provides new data that will enable geophysical researchers to improve models of geomagnetic field variability and core processes for the first three millennia BCE.