Ringlemere Farm, Woodnesborough, Kent: Archaeomagnetic Dating Report, October 2004

Author(s): Paul Linford, Louise Martin

During excavations following the discovery of a Bronze Age gold cup at Ringlemere Farm near Woodnesborough in Kent in 2001a hearth thought to date from the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age was discovered. The English Heritage Geophysics Team was asked to sample this feature to test its suitability for archaeomagnetic dating and analyses showed that the hearth did retain a stable remanent magnetisation. While standard archaeomagnetic calibration curves for the UK do not extend back in time further than the Bronze Age, it has been possible to deduce an approximate date range for the last firing of the hearth during the 4th millennium BC using an international geomagnetic reference curve. This date is earlier than that of other material from the site so far submitted for scientific dating and further investigation is required to ascertain whether this discrepancy is due to deficiencies in the calibration curve resulting from the current paucity of UK archaeomagnetic reference data for the prehistoric period.

Report Number:
88/2008
Series:
Research Department Reports
Pages:
20
Keywords:
Archaeomagnetism Bronze Age Neolithic

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