Simpson’s Malt, Pontefract, West Yorkshire: Scientific Dating of a Pottery Kiln
Author(s): C Batt, D Greenwood, John Meadows, I Roberts
A pottery kiln was excavated at Simpson’s Malt, Pontefract, by Archaeological Services WYAS, in February 2008. The pottery kiln was well-preserved and showed no obvious signs of post-firing disturbance, making it an ideal candidate for archaeomagnetic investigation. Forty oriented archaeomagnetic samples were taken from two areas of the kiln and analysed at the University of Bradford. Samples from the kiln wall lining were magnetically poorly stable and could not be dated with confidence. The most likely cause of this is insufficient heating when the kiln was fired. Samples from the base of the pottery kiln had been heated to a sufficient temperature to produce a record of magnetic direction, and that magnetisation had remained stable and was consistent with last firing in AD 538–1014. Radiocarbon dating of six short-lived charcoal samples from three contexts associated with the use of the kiln indicated a final firing in cal AD 990–1050 (95% probability). Both techniques produced dates earlier than those expected on archaeological grounds.
- Report Number:
- 60/2010
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 39
- Keywords:
- Archaeomagnetism Radiocarbon Dating
