Age determination and authentication of ceramics: advancements in the thermoluminescence dating laboratory in Torino (Italy)

13Classified as an absolute dating method, thermoluminescence (TL) is a well-established radiation-based technique for the age determination and authentication of ceramic materials. Specifically, this method allows the determination of the time elapsed since kiln firing (or later fire events) by evaluating the luminescent emission of ceramics under heating at high temperatures. This paper provides a comprehensive presentation of the TL laboratory developed over the last decade at the Physics Department of the University of Torino. The laboratory was set up in collaboration with TecnArt S.r.l. and is also currently operating within the cultural heritage network of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN-CHNet). More than 10 years of experience in the field has resulted in improvements in procedures, with the development of customised alpha- and beta-irradiation systems and the optimisation of sampling approaches and chemical pre-treatment. Thanks to TecnArt S.r.l., the laboratory has been employed for dating and authenticating hundreds of archaeological sites and artworks, some of which are discussed in this work and compared, when possible, with radiocarbon dating.openopenGuidorzi, Laura; Fantino, Fulvio; Durisi, Elisabetta; Ferrero, Marco; Re, Alessandro; Vigorelli, Luisa; Visca, Lorenzo; Gulmini, Monica; Dughera, Giovanni; Giraudo, Giuseppe; Angelici, Debora; Panero, Elisa; Lo Giudice, AlessandroGuidorzi, Laura; Fantino, Fulvio; Durisi, Elisabetta; Ferrero, Marco; Re, Alessandro; Vigorelli, Luisa; Visca, Lorenzo; Gulmini, Monica; Dughera, Giovanni; Giraudo, Giuseppe; Angelici, Debora; Panero, Elisa; Lo Giudice, Alessandr

Improvements to the analytical protocol of lapis lazuli provenance: First study on Myanmar rock samples

The study of lapis lazuli is important to find out information about the provenance of a materialused since the Neolithic Age for the manufacturing of precious carved artefacts. The Badakhshan depositsin Afghanistan are commonly considered as the main source of lapis lazuli in ancient times. However, otherquarries could have possibly been exploited since antiquity. A protocol to distinguish the provenance oflapis lazuli rocks among four known source areas (located in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Siberiaand Chile) by means of non-invasive techniques was set up in the last years. It is based on differences in thephysical-chemical properties measured in 45 lapis lazuli rocks that constitute our reference database. Theaim of the present paper is to extend the protocol analysing, by means of a multi-analytical approach, 10lapis lazuli rock samples, coming from the quarry district of Mandalay in Myanmar, to find out significantpetrographic and mineralogical markers. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were usedto perform a detailed petrographic and mineralogical characterisation allowing to distinguish the Myanmarlapis lazuli in three main groups. SEM-EDX analyses on selected mineral phases were performed

Archaeological, archaeomagnetic and thermoluminescence investigation of a baked clay kiln excavated at Chieri, northern Italy: contribution to the rescue of our cultural heritage Annals of Geophysics

Combining different dating techniques is fundamental to constrain the ages of archaeological findings, mainly when direct evidences for their chronological context are not available. This paper presents the results of a combined archaeological, archaeomagnetic and thermoluminescence study of a kiln discovered during a rescue excavation at Chieri, northern Italy. The archaeological site is quite complex mainly due to the interposition of different stratigraphic levels that span from Roman times to present day. The studied kiln belongs to the post-medieval stratigraphic level but the lack of datable diagnostic objects strongly limits the possibility of its accurate dating only by means of archaeological evidences. Archaeomagnetic study was performed on 26 baked clay samples, isolating stable characteristic remanent magnetizations. The statistic comparison of the averaged direction with reference secular variation curves suggests two possible dating intervals. Independent dating from thermoluminescence study of 2 samples is consistent with the second time interval proposed by archaeomagnetism, suggesting that the kiln was abandoned at the beginning of the 17th century. The successful combination of the two independent laboratory techniques provides accurate dating of archaeological baked clays and can be used as routine for future archaeological investigations of rescue excavations