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Direct Dating of Prehistoric Canal Sediments Using Archaeomagnetism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jeffrey L. Eighmy  and
Jerry B. Howard
Jeffrey L. Eighmy
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Jerry B. Howard
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
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Abstract

The problems with dating prehistoric canals are renowned, due to the fact they seldom contain material appropriate for traditional dating methods. However, the application of archaeomagnetic techniques may offer a method of dating canals in those regions where master curves of polar wandering already exist. Detrital remanent magnetism in Hohokam canal sediments seems to produce accurate dates with ranges of ca. 200 years, twice the resolution of previous canal-dating attempts. However, at least some of the sediments seem to record inclinations that are less accurate than the declinations. In these cases, the declination values for the sediments can be compared to master declinations curves as a method of dating the sediments.

Résumé

Résumé

Los problemas de datar canales prehistóricos son muy conocidos; pocas veces se recupera el material adecuado para obtener fechados por medio de métodos tradicionales. Sin embargo, las téchnicas arqueomagnéticas pueden ofrecer una alternativa para datar los canales en regiones para las cuales ya existen curvas maestras de desviación polar. El magnetismo detrítico remanente que occurre en los sedimentos de un canal Hohokam parece darfechas precisas enun rango de 200 años. Este método dobla la precisión obtenida en previos intentos de datar los canales. Sin embargo, por lo menos algunos sedimentos parecen registrar inclinaciones menos precisas que las declinaciones. En estos casos, un método de datación consiste en comparar los valores de las declinaciones de estos sedimentos con las curvas maestras de declinaciones.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , January 1991 , pp. 88 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1991

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