Little Furnace Wood, Mayfield, East Sussex: Archaeomagnetic And Radiocarbon Dating Of Contexts [3], [98], and [135]
Author(s): M Noel
Forty-seven samples of fired material were removed from Contexts [3], [98], and [135] for the purpose of archaeomagnetic analysis and dating. Specimens were oriented in situ using the button method, combined with spirit levels and a north-seeking gyro compass. Some of the material was rather friable, and as a result a number of samples disintegrated during transport and cutting. Demagnetisation tests showed that the magnetisation in the material is stable. The mean archaeomagnetic vectors in each context were compared with the UK Master Curve to suggest that last firing occurred in the date ranges AD 40–60 (furnace [3]), and AD 60–220 or AD 270–480 (furnace [135]). Archaeomagnetic vectors in ore-roasting hearth [98] were too poorly grouped to form the basis for a reliable magnetic date. The date ranges obtained are consistent with radiocarbon results in the case of furnace [135], but rather earlier than the radiocarbon date associated with furnace [3]. This radiocarbon date, however, appears to provide only a terminus ante quem for the final firing of furnace [3].
- Report Number:
- 27/2008
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 15
- Keywords:
- Archaeomagnetism Radiocarbon Dating
