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Mortar Dating Methodology: Assessing Recurrent Issues and Needs for Further Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2017

Roald Hayen ,
Mark Van Strydonck ,
Laurent Fontaine ,
Mathieu Boudin ,
Alf Lindroos ,
Jan Heinemeier ,
Åsa Ringbom ,
Danuta Michalska ,
Irka Hajdas  and
Sophie Hueglin
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Roald Hayen*
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Mark Van Strydonck
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Laurent Fontaine
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Mathieu Boudin
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Alf Lindroos
Affiliation:
Dept. of Geology and Mineralogy, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
Jan Heinemeier
Affiliation:
Aarhus AMS Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Denmark
Åsa Ringbom
Affiliation:
Department of Art History, Åbo Akademi University, Finland
Danuta Michalska
Affiliation:
Institute of Geology, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Bogumiła Krygowskiego 12, 61-680 Poznań, Poland
Irka Hajdas
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETHZ, Otto-Stern-Weg 5, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Sophie Hueglin
Affiliation:
School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Fabio Marzaioli
Affiliation:
CIRCE and Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Dip. di Scienze Ambientali, Italy
Filippo Terrasi
Affiliation:
CIRCE and Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Dip. di Scienze Ambientali, Italy
Isabella Passariello
Affiliation:
CIRCE and Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Dip. di Scienze Ambientali, Italy
Manuela Capano
Affiliation:
CIRCE and Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Dip. di Scienze Ambientali, Italy
Francesco Maspero
Affiliation:
CUDAM, Università di Milano-Bicocca, piazza della Scienza 4, 20126 Milan, Italy, and INFN
Laura Panzeri
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università di Milano-Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 55, 20125 Milan, Italy, and INFN
Anna Galli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università di Milano-Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 55, 20125 Milan, Italy, and INFN CNR-IFN, Piazza L. Da Vinci 32, 20133 Milan, Italy
Gilberto Artioli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università di Padova, Italy
Anna Addis
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università di Padova, Italy
Michele Secco
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Università di Padova, Italy
Elisabetta Boaretto
Affiliation:
Max Planck-Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology, D-REAMS Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Weizmann Institute, Israel
Christophe Moreau
Affiliation:
LMC14, CEA/Saclay, France
Pierre Guibert
Affiliation:
IRAMAT-CRP2A, UMR5060 CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Maison de l’Archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, 33607 Pessac, France
Petra Urbanova
Affiliation:
IRAMAT-CRP2A, UMR5060 CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Maison de l’Archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, 33607 Pessac, France
Justyna Czernik
Affiliation:
Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory, Poznań Park of Science and Technology, ul. Rubież 46, 61-612 Poznań, Poland
Tomasz Goslar
Affiliation:
Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory, Poznań Park of Science and Technology, ul. Rubież 46, 61-612 Poznań, Poland Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. Umultowska 85, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
Marta Caroselli
Affiliation:
Univ. of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland, Switzerland
*
*Corresponding author. Email: roald.hayen@kikirpa.be.
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Abstract

Absolute dating of mortars is crucial when trying to pin down construction phases of archaeological sites and historic stone buildings to a certain point in time or to confirm, but possibly also challenge, existing chronologies. To evaluate various sample preparation methods for radiocarbon (14C) dating of mortars as well as to compare different dating methods, i.e. 14C and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), a mortar dating intercomparison study (MODIS) was set up, exploring existing limits and needs for further research. Four mortar samples were selected and distributed among the participating laboratories: one of which was expected not to present any problem related to the sample preparation methodologies for anthropogenic lime extraction, whereas all others addressed specific known sample preparation issues. Data obtained from the various mortar dating approaches are evaluated relative to the historical framework of the mortar samples and any deviation observed is contextualized to the composition and specific mineralogy of the sampled material.

Keywords

limemortar datingOSLradiocarbon AMS dating
Type
Method Development
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 6: 8th International Symposium, Edinburgh, 27 June – 1 July, 2016 Part 2 of 2 , December 2017 , pp. 1859 - 1871
Copyright
© 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 8th Radiocarbon & Archaeology Symposium, Edinburgh, UK, 27 June–1 July 2016

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