Developing archaeomagnetic dating in the British Iron Age
Archaeomagnetism is an area of research that utilises the magnetic properties of archaeological materials to date past human activity. This research aimed to use the evidence of past geomagnetism, as recorded by archaeological and geological materials, to identify and characterise short timescale changes in the EarthÂżs magnetic field. This contribution to the discipline focused on the first millennium BC, as there is evidence that during this time the EarthÂżs magnetic field experienced rapid changes in direction. This work focused on an established weakness in archaeomagnetic studies, i.e. the application of archaeological information to assign a date range to the magnetic directions. The date ranges for 232 magnetic directions from 98 Iron Age sites were reviewed and a programme of fieldwork produced 25 new magnetic directions from 11 Iron Age sites across Britain. The approach developed in this thesis has made significant improvements to the data examined, which represent the prehistoric section of the British secular variation curve (SVC). These data have been incorporated into the British archaeomagnetic dataset that now comprises over 1000 magnetic directions and will be used to generate future British
Clelland, Sarah-Jane
Archaeomagnetism ; Dating ; Iron Age ; Secular variation ; Calibration curve ; Britain ; First millennium BC ; Geomagnetic
Developing archaeomagnetic dating in the British Iron Age. Archaeomagnetism is an area of research that utilises the magnetic properties of archaeological materials to date past human activity. This research aimed to use the evidence of past geomagnetism, as recorded by archaeological and geological materials, to identify and characterise short timescale changes in the EarthÂżs magnetic field. This contribution to the discipline focused on the first millennium BC, as there is evidence that during this time the EarthÂżs magnetic field experienced rapid changes in direction. This work focused on an established weakness in archaeomagnetic studies, i.e. the application of archaeological information to assign a date range to the magnetic directions. The date ranges for 232 magnetic directions from 98 Iron Age sites were reviewed and a programme of fieldwork produced 25 new magnetic directions from 11 Iron Age sites across Britain. The approach developed in this thesis has made significant improvements to the data examined, which represent the prehistoric section of the British secular variation curve (SVC). These data have been incorporated into the British archaeomagnetic dataset that now comprises over 1000 magnetic directions and will be used to generate future British
developing archaeomagnetic date british_iron_age area utilise magnetic property archaeological_material date past_human activity aim use evidence past record archaeological geological material identify characterise short change magnetic field discipline focus first_millennium evidence time magnetic field experience rapid_change direction work focus establish weakness archaeomagnetic study application archaeological information assign date_range magnetic direction date_range magnetic direction iron_age sit review programme fieldwork produce_new magnetic direction iron_age sit across_britain develop make_significant improvement data examine represent prehistoric section british secular variation curve data incorporate british archaeomagnetic dataset comprises magnetic direction use generate future british