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

Roald Hayen; Mark Van Strydonck; Laurent Fontaine; Mathieu Boudin; Alf Lindroos; Jan Heinemeier; Asa Ringbom; Danuta Michalska; Irka Hajdas; Sophie Hueglin; Fabio Marzaioli; Filippo Terrasi; Isabella Passariello; Manuela Capano; Francesco Maspero; Laura Panzeri; Anna Galli; Gilberto Artioli; Anna Addis; Michele Secco; Elisabetta Boaretto; Christophe Moreau; Pierre Guibert; Petra Urbanova; Justyna Czernik; Tomasz Goslar; Marta Caroselli

doi:10.1017/RDC.2017.129

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

Roald Hayen^*, Mark Van Strydonck, Laurent Fontaine, Mathieu Boudin, Alf Lindroos, Jan Heinemeier, Asa Ringbom, Danuta Michalska, Irka Hajdas, Sophie Hueglin, Fabio Marzaioli, Filippo Terrasi, Isabella Passariello, Manuela Capano, Francesco Maspero, Laura Panzeri, Anna Galli, Gilberto Artioli, Anna Addis, Michele SeccoElisabetta Boaretto, Christophe Moreau, Pierre Guibert, Petra Urbanova, Justyna Czernik, Tomasz Goslar, Marta Caroselli

^*Corresponding author for this work

Scientific Archeology Unit

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

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 (C-14) dating of mortars as well as to compare different dating methods, i.e. C-14 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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1859-1871
Number of pages	13
Journal	Radiocarbon
Volume	59
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2017.129
Publication status	Published - Dec 2017
Event	8th Symposium on Radiocarbon and Archaeology - Edinburgh Duration: 27 Jun 2016 → 1 Jul 2016

Funding

We thank Drs. Pnina Moshitzky and Rita Mozes‐koch, Galit Eak-teiman, Ofer Aidlin Harari and Ksenia Juravel for their excellent assistance. We also thank four anonymous reviewers for their excellent comments on earlier versions of this manuscript and the subject‐editor Tatiana Giraud for her inspiring and punctilious editorial work. This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation grant 1039/12 to SM and the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, from a grant provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Grant Agreement Number OPP1058938).

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Archaeology
General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Access to Document

10.1017/RDC.2017.129

Cite this

Hayen, R., Van Strydonck, M., Fontaine, L., Boudin, M., Lindroos, A., Heinemeier, J., Ringbom, A., Michalska, D., Hajdas, I., Hueglin, S., Marzaioli, F., Terrasi, F., Passariello, I., Capano, M., Maspero, F., Panzeri, L., Galli, A., Artioli, G., Addis, A., ... Caroselli, M. (2017). Mortar Dating Methodology: Assessing Recurrent Issues and Needs for Further Research. Radiocarbon, 59(6), 1859-1871. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2017.129

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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 (C-14) dating of mortars as well as to compare different dating methods, i.e. C-14 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.",

author = "Roald Hayen and \{Van Strydonck\}, Mark and Laurent Fontaine and Mathieu Boudin and Alf Lindroos and Jan Heinemeier and Asa Ringbom and Danuta Michalska and Irka Hajdas and Sophie Hueglin and Fabio Marzaioli and Filippo Terrasi and Isabella Passariello and Manuela Capano and Francesco Maspero and Laura Panzeri and Anna Galli and Gilberto Artioli and Anna Addis and Michele Secco and Elisabetta Boaretto and Christophe Moreau and Pierre Guibert and Petra Urbanova and Justyna Czernik and Tomasz Goslar and Marta Caroselli",

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Hayen, R, Van Strydonck, M, Fontaine, L, Boudin, M, Lindroos, A, Heinemeier, J, Ringbom, A, Michalska, D, Hajdas, I, Hueglin, S, Marzaioli, F, Terrasi, F, Passariello, I, Capano, M, Maspero, F, Panzeri, L, Galli, A, Artioli, G, Addis, A, Secco, M, Boaretto, E, Moreau, C, Guibert, P, Urbanova, P, Czernik, J, Goslar, T & Caroselli, M 2017, 'Mortar Dating Methodology: Assessing Recurrent Issues and Needs for Further Research', Radiocarbon, vol. 59, no. 6, pp. 1859-1871. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2017.129

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AU - Hayen, Roald

AU - Van Strydonck, Mark

AU - Fontaine, Laurent

AU - Boudin, Mathieu

AU - Lindroos, Alf

AU - Heinemeier, Jan

AU - Ringbom, Asa

AU - Michalska, Danuta

AU - Hajdas, Irka

AU - Hueglin, Sophie

AU - Marzaioli, Fabio

AU - Terrasi, Filippo

AU - Passariello, Isabella

AU - Capano, Manuela

AU - Maspero, Francesco

AU - Panzeri, Laura

AU - Galli, Anna

AU - Artioli, Gilberto

AU - Addis, Anna

AU - Secco, Michele

AU - Boaretto, Elisabetta

AU - Moreau, Christophe

AU - Guibert, Pierre

AU - Urbanova, Petra

AU - Czernik, Justyna

AU - Goslar, Tomasz

AU - Caroselli, Marta

PY - 2017/12

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N2 - 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 (C-14) dating of mortars as well as to compare different dating methods, i.e. C-14 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.

AB - 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 (C-14) dating of mortars as well as to compare different dating methods, i.e. C-14 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.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85040006633

U2 - 10.1017/RDC.2017.129

DO - 10.1017/RDC.2017.129

M3 - Article

SN - 0033-8222

VL - 59

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JO - Radiocarbon

JF - Radiocarbon

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Y2 - 27 June 2016 through 1 July 2016

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