Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
A detailed rock-magnetic and archeointensity study was carried out on materials baked by a western Mexican artisan following traditional techniques to produce faithful reproductions of archeological pieces of the Michoacan region (Western Mesoamerica). The field strength at the site (41.0 +/- 0.51 mu T) was measured with a fluxgate magnetometer and the temperature of the furnace during the baking process was monitored continually by means of a thermocouple placed in the middle of the baking cavity.;Rock-magnetic experiments performed on the raw material (clay and paste) and on in situ prepared baked ceramics and bricks included measurement of thermomagnetic curves (susceptibility and strong-field magnetization versus temperature), first-order reversal curves (FORC), anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of thermoremanent magnetization (A-TRM). Magnetite and probably hematite are present in the samples as carriers of the remanence. Hysteresis ratios suggest that the samples fall in the pseudo-single-domain grain size region, which may indicate a mixture of multidomain and a significant amount of single-domain grains.;Ceramic pieces and brick fragments were subjected to the Thellier-Coe archeointensity method and to an alternative paleointensity experiment, with a TRIAXE magnetometer, in order to check whether they are faithful recorders of the local geomagnetic field strength.;Mean raw-intensity of sample M1 (pottery) overestimates a 7% the expected site intensity, while those corresponding to the brick samples (LQ1 and LQ2) underestimate it 15%. Brick sample LNQ shows a slightly lower intensity (7%), but agrees with the expected site intensity within the experimental uncertainty. The intensity retrieved from the volcanic fragment also included closely reproduces the expected intensity. After A-TRM and cooling-rate corrections, all mean raw values move closer to the expected intensity.;Measurement of temperatures at different parts inside the kiln (bottom and upper parts of both central and peripheral parts) revealed the existence of significant thermal gradients, similar to those observed in ovens from other localities. Different cooling rates are then expected in a single oven.;The scatter in the intensity determinations observed in this study, retrieved from pieces elaborated together in the same oven, could arise from this differentiated cooling rate within the oven and thus, to an inappropriate cooling rate correction in the archeointensity protocol. As this situation was probably reproduced in the baking of ancient ceramic artifacts, a better knowledge of the temperature distribution inside these types of kiln would be desirable in order to choose the appropriate cooling rate correction.
ISSN: 0031-9201

hal-00644559
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00644559
DOI : 10.1016/j.pepi.2011.06.007

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Oxford University Press (OUP)
Résumé : International audience
Three kilns and a collection of baked bricks from Italian archaeological sites have been studied for archaeointensity determination using the Thellier method as modified by Coe. All sites are dated based on archaeological information and their ages range from 500 to 800 AD and 1500 to 1700 AD. Rock magnetic studies identify magnetite, Ti- magnetite and hematite as the main magnetic minerals, and magnetic susceptibility versus temperature shows a good thermal stability of the samples. The intensity results have been corrected for anisotropy of the thermoremanent magnetization and cooling rate effects. The new data together with 136 previously published results are used to estimate the variation of the Earth's magnetic field over the past three millennia. The time distribution of the Italian absolute intensity data is irregular with the majority of determinations concentrated during the last four centuries, while older periods are very poorly covered. Most of the data come from volcanic rocks and show significant discrepancies. All data have been compared with archaeointensity results from Europe and regional and global models predictions. This work indicates the need to obtain more high quality archaeointensity results, in particular for the periods older than 200 BC and between 200 and 1000 AD, in order to determine a robust Italian intensity secular variation curve that, in combination with directional data, could be used for archaeomagnetic dating.
ISSN: 0956-540X

hal-00452451
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00452451
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04455.x