Earth's magnetic field trapped in ancient bricks

A recurring problem in archaeology is accurately dating ancient objects. A new technique looks for signatures of the Earth’s magnetic field in archaeological items. Changes in the Earth’s magnetic field are imprinted on hot minerals sensitive to the field, such as iron oxide embedded within ancient clay bricks. The fields change over time, and scientists are able to reconstruct these changes. A team of scientists from University College London hopes that using this technique, archaeomagnetism, will improve the history of Earth’s magnetic field, and thus enable precise dating of artefacts that previously could not be. The scientists studied 32 clay bricks with inscriptions from twelve Mesopotamian kings. These helped provide information about the Earth’s magnetic field. The researchers were able to confirm the existence of the ‘Levantine Iron Age Geomagnetic…

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Ancient History (Digital) - 1 Issue, AH 48

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