WEST DENTON, NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, TYNE AND WEAR, ARCHAEOMAGNETIC DATING REPORT 2001
Author(s): Paul Linford
During evaluation excavations by Tyne and Wear Museums Service on the course of Hadrian's Wall at West Denton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne a burnt clay surface was discovered. The surface appeared to be the natural Roman ground surface and it was postulated that the burning might have been the result of a brush fire intended to clear undergrowth before the construction of the wall in this area. Archaeomagnetic analysis revealed that the sample TRMs were widely scattered and that no stable magnetisation existed in high coercivity domains. It is also quite probable that the ground surface has been disturbed since it was fired and that plastic deformation of the clay has distorted the directions originally acquired. Unfortunately, owing to this wide scattering of TRM directions, it was not possible to date the firing event.
- Report Number:
- 40/2001
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 13
- Keywords:
- Archaeomagnetism
