24677
Title Of Article Chaper
Contemporary archaeomagnetic results and the accuracy of archaeomagnetic dates
Title Of Journal Book
Geoarchaeology
Volume
2
Issue
1
Pages
49-61
Collation
4 figs., 8 tables
Reference Bibliography
refs.
ISSN
0883-6353
Language Of Text
English
Language Of Summary
English
Literature Type
Serial
Literature Level
Analytic
Abstract
When multiple archaeomagnetic samples are collected from the same site or component, it is tempting to look for evidence of temporal differences between the collected features. This addresses the issue of the practical limits to confidently identifying temporal differences based on archaeomagnetic sample information. The three controlled data sets suggest that when the specimen polar projections of the samples compared have substantially overlapping ranges and when sample mean projections are less than five degrees apart, statistical comparisons do not support conclusions about probable age differences. These results suggest that temporal differences less than 50 to 100 years (depending on the rate of directional change in the geomagnetic field) between features within a site or component will be difficult to confidently identify. Additional analysis leads to the hypothesis, however, that the averaged results from sets of archaeomagnetic samples might provide the basis for making scale temporal distinctions between sites or components from which multiple archaeomagnetic samples have been collected.
Keywords
geomagnetic field;paleomagnetic dating;dating;magnetometry
pub_id
24677