Optical dating of pottery, burnt stones, and sediments from selected Quebec archaeological sites

摘要

Recent developments in luminescence technologies applied to sediment dating is used to better constrain the age of archaeological events. Suitable geoarchaeological material includes sediments and fired objects, such as pottery and burnt stones. The assessment of archaeological ages illustrated here are based on single aliquot regeneration (SAR), with both infrared and blue stimulation on the same fine-grained aliquot being detected. These new approaches in optical dating were tested on polymineralic extracts of an Archaic burnt stone, a Woodland ceramic, and a soil containing Piano artefacts. The results demonstrate that whether or not these sites had yielded datable radiocarbon material, luminescence would have provided a reliable chronological framework given that the appropriate procedures to correct anomalous fading are incoiporated.