The burnt soil taken from the Ohya Tatara hearth in the Hiroshima prefecture and the burnt sandstone pebbles from the Senpukuji cave site in the Nagasaki prefecture were studied by the thermoluminescence method using quartz inclusions. Annual dose measurements were made with a CaSO₄-Tm TL dosimeter in a polyethylene bag sandwiched between two sample blocks. The attenuation of the beta dose rate due to polyethylene was estimated with the rock standard JG-1 of known isotope contents, and appropriate corrections were made. The Senpukuji samples gave an average age of 11840 ± 740 years and the Ohya Tatara sample 1040 ± 160 years.This technique was also applied to volcanic lava flows in the southern part of Kyushu. -- AATA