THE PRE-DOSE TECHNIQUE: A NEW THERMO-LUMINESCENT DATING METHOD

A thermoluminescent (TL) glow-curve peak occurs around 110°C for the mineral quartz. Its sensitivity may be changed by application of a radiation dose (termed the pre-dose) followed by a heating of the quartz to 500°C: heating alone causes no sensitivity change. The enhancement observed (measured relative to the sensitivity of the peak prior to heating) is a measure of the magnitude of the pre-dose. For quartz extracted from pottery the sensitivity enhancement induced by laboratory heating records a natural pre-dose, i.e. the accumulated dose experienced during archaeological burial. The latter quantity is used in TL age-determination and a test programme is reported on the application of the pre-dose dating method to sites covering the Roman era in Britain forward to modern times.     

An attempt to estimate firing temperature using OSL pre-dose sensitization of quartz

The estimation of firing temperature of ceramics using methods based on pre-dose sensitization of the 110°C TL peak of quartz have yielded incoherent results. Recently the fast component of the CW-OSL of quartz has been observed to have pre-dose characteristics similar to that of the 110°C TL peak. The motivation for this study has been to look into the feasibility of this signal, the OSL counter part of pre-dosed TL emission, for the firing temperature identification. The variation in the sensitization ratio of the TL and OSL emissions with different heating temperatures was also utilized to unveil the firing temperature mark of the specimen.     

Firing temperature of a clay core sample in a bronze tripod from Daxinzhuang Site in China using TL techniques

In this paper, we studied the thermal history of a clay core sample from one leg of a bronze tripod unearthed at Daxinzhuang Site, Shandong, China. The properties of the luminescence signals of quartz depend on the maximum temperature at which the quartz was annealed in the past. We examined the feasibility of measuring the thermoluminescence (TL) sensitivity change of quartz for exploring the firing temperature of archaeological materials. The sensitization factor of the 110°C TL peak (S₂/S₁) and the ratio of the 210°C TL peak to the 110°C TL peak at different annealing temperatures were utilized to unveil the firing temperature in the clay core sample. The firing temperature of the clay core sample was approximately 700°C–800°C, proving the clay core has been fired. This result proved that the clay core has been fired by human agencies and indicated on the temperature of the clay core in drying and firing given by the foundry workers before the actual casting step.     

The Firing Temperature of Pottery from Ancient Mesopotamia,Turkey, Using Luminescence Methods: A Case Study for Different Grain‐Size Fractions

The assessment of the firing temperature of a prehistoric pottery sample collected from ancient Mesopotamia, Turkey was studied using luminescence techniques. The methods for this estimation involved the observation of the thermal and pre‐dose sensitization with various re‐firing temperatures for both TL and the OSL signals. In the former case, the 110°C TL peak and the rest of the glow curve were used as proxies in this study. In the framework of a first attempt to investigate the impact of grain‐size dependence on the sensitization of the luminescence signals, the aforementioned study was performed with four different pottery grain‐size fractions: (i) less than 60 μm, (ii) 60–90 μm, (iii) 90–180 μm and (iv) 180–250 μm. The results clearly demonstrated the firing temperature mark of ～500°C in for the grain size of 90–180 μm, while—as in the case of the lower grain‐size fraction—a third proxy, the ratio of the pre‐dosed to the thermal sensitization, was seen to indicate the firing temperature. The remaining two grain‐size fractions failed to provide any meaningful results with regard to the firing temperature estimation. The dependence of the TL characteristics on the grain size was explained in the framework of the mixed mineralogy.     

中国海南省中和镇古城墙砖的热释光测年研究

采用热释光前剂量饱和指数法对海南省中和镇的8件古城门墙砖样品进行了年代测定研究。由于该地区离海近,粘土中的含沙量非常高,古人在烧制砖时,采用这种粘土作为制砖的原料。烧造时的温度相对高于其它地方烧制的砖。其中4件砖样内部呈灰色,3件砖样内部呈红色,其中1件砖样断面为外围灰色,内部红色。在应用高温细颗粒方法测定这批砖样的年代时,发现样品的高温热释光灵敏度非常差,且不规则,没有"坪曲线",因而无法得出这些古代城门墙砖的具体年代。后采用热释光前剂量饱和指数方法对古砖样品进行了古剂量测定,发现这些样品具有较好的热释光前剂量效应,且样品的热释光灵敏度较高,得到的古剂量具有很好的重复性。热释光测年结果表明,No.2、No.3、No.6、No.8样品的热释光年代分别为:距今590年、575年、530年和580年,为明代早期烧制;No.1、No.4、No.7样品的热释光年代分别为:距今410年、345年和375年,为明代中晚期烧制;No.5样品的年代为距今140年,为清代晚期。经考古人员现场考证,认为No.5样品所处位置存在火烧痕迹。这个火烧时间应该在中国清代晚期,即热释光测定年代。     

Changes in natural OSL sensitivity during single aliquot regeneration procedure and their implications for equivalent dose determination

Measurement of low temperature (90°C–120°C) Thermoluminescence (TL) sensitivity of natural quartz samples subjected to pre-heating and optical stimulation indicate that significant sensitivity changes can occur during measurement of the natural Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). During the measurement of natural signal, the luminescence sensitivity of samples can change by 40%. The sensitivity changes both during the initial preheat and the measurement of natural OSL. The currently used version of Single Aliquot Regeneration (SAR) protocol measures and corrects for the sensitivity changes after preheat and readout of natural OSL. However, it does not take into account the changes in sensitivity during the readout of the natural signal. We therefore developed a correction procedure so that both the natural and the regenerated OSL intensities can be measured and plotted with the same sensitivity and suggest that in the absence of such a correction, a considerable fraction of the SAR based ages could have systematic errors. The correction for the sensitivity is based on the use of sensitivity of 110°C TL quartz peak, which is correlated to OSL signal (Murray and Roberts, 1998). The use of 110°C peak provides a reasonable measure of the changes in OSL sensitivity of quartz. A modified Natural Sensitivity Corrected-SAR (NSC-SAR) procedure, that comprises the measurement of, 1) the TL intensity of 110°C peak for a test dose on sample as received (i.e. natural sample) and, 2) the sensitivity of the 110°C peak of the same sample after the preheat and read out of the natural OSL, is proposed. This ratio, termed as Natural Correction Factor (NCF), then provides a way to correct for sensitivity changes. Results on samples from diverse depositional environments indicated that the NSC-SAR consistently (without exception) provided improved distribution in paleodoses i.e. a lower scatter compared to the standard SAR protocol. In addition, the use of this protocol also resolved anomalous cases where the intensity of natural OSL was significantly above the saturation intensity of the regenerated OSL. Implicitly, this study implies a caution on the use of palaeodoses obtained from single grains as such a correction is not possible in the currently used automated single grain OSL measurement systems. The only way now on will be to analyze aliquots with only a grain on them.     

Roman traces in Germania magna: New thermoluminescence and pIRIR290 data from a lime kiln at Bergisch Gladbach,Germany

The applicability of a post‐infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR₂₉₀) protocol and two different thermoluminescence (TL) protocols—a single aliquot regeneration (SAR) and a multiple aliquot additive dose (MAAD)—was tested on six polymineral fine‐grain (4–11 μm) samples extracted from the wall remains of a Roman lime kiln and a Roman roof tile. These remains had been excavated close to Bergisch Gladbach, which was at that time part of Germania magna. For the pIRIR₂₉₀ measurements, no dependence of D_e on first‐stimulation temperature was detectable, and the standard first stimulation temperature at 50°C was adopted. Fading tests and dose‐recovery tests were made for all samples. Background subtracted glow curves were recorded up to 480°C for TL after a preheat of 220°C for 120 s. A‐values were determined for all TL and pIRIR measurements. The results for all three protocols were fairly consistent, and TL and pIRIR₂₉₀ protocols are shown to be suitable to estimate reliable equivalent doses for the fired kiln walls. The resulting ages are in agreement with the expected time range—Roman Iron Age—and with independent age control provided by radiocarbon ages of animal bones and charcoal from the firing chamber.     

Anomalous fading and crystalline structure: Studies on individual chondrules from the same parent body

Plagioclase feldspar is the major luminescent mineral in meteorites. Thermoluminescence (TL) characteristics, peak temperature (T_m), full width at half maximum (FWHM), ratio of high (HT) to low temperature (LT) peak, and TL sensitivity (TL/dose/mass) to an extent reflect degree of crystallinity of the mineral. The present study explores and establishes a correlation between quantum mechanical anomalous (athermal) fading and structural state by examining TL of individual chondrules. Chondrules were separated using freeze-thaw technique from a single fragment of Dhajala meteorite. The results show large variation in T_m (155?230°C), FWHM (80?210°C) and HT/LT (0.07–0.47) and seem to be positively correlated. TL sensitivity (ranging from 14 to 554 counts/s/Gy/mg) decreases with increasing T_m and FWHM. Large variations in TL parameters (Tm, FWHM, HT/LT, and Sensitivty) suggest that individual chondrules had different degree of crystallization. Thermal annealing experiments suggest that comparatively ordered form of feldspar can be converted to a disordered form by annealing the sample at high temperatures (1000°C) for long time (10 hr) in vacuum (1 mbar pressure) condition and rapidly cooling it. Measured anomalous fading suggest that fading rate increases as the crystal form changes from an ordered state to a disordered state. However, the fading rate becomes nearly negligible for the most disordered feldspars.     

Attempts at thermoluminescence dating of fired materials from the Przeworsk Culture settlements

The thermoluminescence (TL) dating method has a significant measurement error margin reaching almost 10%. Due to this fact it could be considered as little effective in case of such sites from the Roman period as burial grounds with many artefacts useful for archaeological dating. However, for many settlements from this period, where pottery is the only kind of artefacts, the TL method can give notable results. The main purpose of the study was to make an attempt at TL dating of pottery and clay daub samples from the Nieszawa Kolonia and Kręcieszki sites and to compare the obtained dates with the results of archaeological dating of selected features from the Przeworsk Culture settlements. In the Kręcieszki site the fragments of burnt clay daub were dated by the TL method for the first time in the Lublin laboratory. It turned out that clay daub is an equally good dating material as pottery. It can be found that the TL dating of pottery from Nieszawa Kolonia confirms two stages of settlement. The first settlement stage is related to the phases B2-B2/C1-C1a of the Roman period, i.e. from the beginning of the 2^nd to the beginning of the 3^rd century. The second group of TL dates corresponds to the phases C2D that is to the second stage of settlement, from the second half of the 3^rd century to the half of the 5^th century AD. The results of TL dating of pottery and clay daub in the Kręcieszki site are rather similar and correspond to the phase B1/B2 of the period of Roman influence, determined from pottery style, but can also indicate the phase B2/C1.     

Émergence, Migrations et Routinisation du Pourcentage dans les Sciences du Politique (XVIIe–XIXe Siècles)

This article explores the paths through which percentage imposed itself in the political sciences. At first used in the financial domain, percentage is incorporated in 1662 by Graunt in the field of studies of mortality; in the beginning of the 19^th century it migrates towards studies in population growth, then it migrates to other territories to become a tool of general application. Each migration enters the framework of a new problematic: “the birth of mortality” in one case; “the birth of population” in the other. The recourse to percentages thus appears as one of the elements in the foundation of statistical objectivism.     

The Roots and Achievements of the Early Proto‐Sunni Movement: A Profile and Interpretation

In recent years, the term “proto‐Sunni” has become common in scholarship on the early centuries of Islam. Drawing on categories developed by Peter Berger, this study seeks to move toward a more inclusive portrait of the early proto‐Sunni movement and a more organic understanding of the movement's success. It argues that owing to the erosion of several of the “plausibility structures” of earliest Islam, three tendencies emerged among the proto‐Sunnis between the early 8^th and mid‐9^th centuries C.E.: proto‐Sunnis as traditionist ?ulamā?, proto‐Sunnis as pious ascetics, and proto‐Sunnis as volunteer holy warriors. The prestige acquired through their activities in these areas enabled the early proto‐Sunnis to “objectify” and “legitimize” new plausibility structures which would prove decisive to an eventual Sunni consensus.     

Scientisme sur L’histoire D’un Concept Difficile

Today “scientism” is a pejorative concept in every language. But isn’t that just a projection made in order to exploit the fear of “science”? The article develops the argument that scientism is a historical current which can be analyzed in a concrete way. It shows that the word goes back to the 19^th century and got its negative emphasis when “scientific” spiritism on the one hand and Catholicism on the other were struggling against the “exaggerated” claims of natural science.     

Médecine et Discours sur L’Homme dans la Première Modernité

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, medical knowledge was anthropological in so much as it produced a discourse on man whose ambition and legitimacy needed no justification. Underwritten by the belief that the body was an object of science, the epistemic horizons of a doctrina de homine emerged from the interaction of medical practice, particularly anatomy, with philosophy and theology in a specific framework - the reorganization of knowledge in Europe over the “long 16^th century”.     

« Techno-Esthétique » de L’Économie Smithienne Valeur et Fonctionnalité des Objets dans L’Angleterre des Lumières

From The Theory of Moral Sentiments to his essay on The Nature of that Imitation Which Takes Place in What Are Called the Imitative Arts, Adam Smith offered a vision of aesthetics combining beauty and utility. An echo of exchange value as the “ability to buy other goods” — the “power” to organize and achieve one’s goals — his definition of beauty was premised on the “aptness” of things, that is, the fact that they were also useful. Sustained by the commodification of products, a kind of “techno-aesthetics” thus emerged in England in the 18^th century, one that implied designing, adapting, reducing and showcasing the means of production.     

Compositional Phases,Geography and Historical Setting behind Judges 4-5 and the Location of Harosheth-ha-goiim

In this article I deal with the compositional history, geographical background and possible historical setting of Judges 4-5. I propose that the original heroic, oral material behind these chapters represents two different traditions: One (embedded in Chapter 4) originated in the area of Mount Tabor and the hills to its east and northeast and had the city of Anaharath (the name behind the pun or polemic twist of “Harosheth-ha-goiim”) at its core. The other (part of Chapter 5, 19-22) came from the southwestern Jezreel Valley. These traditions represent memories of turbulent 10^th century BCE events—the fall of the last of the late-Canaanite city-states and the take-over of the region by highlanders (Israelites) just before, or in very early days of, the rise of the Northern Kingdom. They were put in writing for the first time by a North Israelite author in the first half of the 8^th century. This author had only vague knowledge of the western valley tradition (Chapter 5); hence while composing the early song, he “imported” details from Chapter 4, merged the two tales into one account, and “expanded” both to portray a broad (North) Israelite scene. A Deuteronomistic author of the late 7^th century BCE inserted the frames characteristic of the Book of Judges, harmonized Chapter 4 with the Jabin story in Joshua 11, included other “explanatory” notes and entered the divine intervention in Chapter 4. A Deuteronomistic author also introduced the adoration of YHWH segments in Chapter 5.     

The influence of geomagnetic activity on the upper mesosphere/ lower thermosphere in the auroral zone. I. Vertical winds

A scanning Fabry-Perot spectrometer (FPS), located at Mawson station, Antarctica (672S, 63°E, invariant latitude 70°S) was used to obtain vertical wind, temperature, and emission intensity measurements from the λ558 nm emission of atomic oxygen. The measured temperature is used to assign an approximate emission height to the observations. A spaced-antenna partial-reflection radar was run concurrently with the FPS from which the presence of enhanced ionization in the D-region could be inferred from the return heights and strengths of the echoes. Large upwards winds of approximately 30 m s⁻¹, at altitudes less than 110 km, appear to be a direct response of the neutral atmosphere to intense auroral events. It is suggested that the observed upwelling is a result of particle heating at heights below the principal emission height. At higher altitudes, vertical winds of a similar magnitude are also measured during geomagnetically disturbed conditions, although here they do not appear to be associated with particular auroral events. In this case it is suggested that upwelling is produced by a combination of Joule and particle heating.     

Assemblies,Coalitions, and Conflicts Over Free Speech: From “Trespass” to “Encroachment” in Urban Space at Hyde Park,London, 1861–1962

By drawing, among others, on the ideas of the Bakhtin Circle and Judith Butler, this paper explores spatial struggles over the right to free speech at Hyde Park, London, 1861–1962. From the 1860s to the early 20^th century, the state gradually constructed a “monologic” discourse about an ideal-typical “indecent” speaker who would “trespass” on Hyde Park through their “excitable speech” against a legally sanctioned right to give a “public address” in the park. This discourse gave the state some room to evict those it claimed to be transgressing “public address”. However, different “heteroglossic coalitions” of regulars ensured that Hyde Park remained not only a “political assembly” to discuss political issues, but also a “social assembly” to exercise free speech on a range of social topics. Indeed, by the 1950s, these coalitions used a nearby road scheme to successfully argue it was the state that was potentially trespassing, or “encroaching”, on free speech at Hyde Park.     

FOCUS: Provenance of Ceramics Revealed by Magnetic Susceptibility and Thermoluminescence

A new method for provenance determination of ceramics is presented. The samples were measured for magnetic susceptibility and for the TL intensity produced by artificially induced radiation in a pre-heated sample. Characteristic differences in magnetic susceptibility and TL sensitivity were found to exist between different clay sources, and in a diagram of susceptibility versus TL intensity, ceramics of different provenances often plot in distinctly different areas. Samples of 0·01–1 g of burnt clay were used. The method has been tested on a dozen archaeological sites, three of which are presented here as examples. Choice of tempering material, firing temperature, and oxygen tension during firing affect the susceptibility and the TL signals somewhat, and these effects have been tested experimentally.     

Technological aspects of Mesopotamian Uruk pottery: estimating firing temperatures using mineralogical methods,thermal analysis and luminescence techniques

The Middle Uruk phase in Mesopotamia (3600–3500 bc) has been characterised by the massive production of “bevelled rim bowls” (BRBs). They are characterised by their similar shape and volume in Mesopotamia and surroundings. However, their production method has not been studied in detail, including the firing temperature. The determination of the firing temperature of ancient pottery has been attempted by studying mineral phase transformation sequences; although, very little knowledge exists about such transformations in mixtures or thermal analyses. These methods usually provide imprecise firing temperatures between 500 and 800 °C, as other factors such as the raw materials or firing time and conditions must be considered. As an alternative, luminescence techniques have been tested with promising results, as they have provided reliable maximum firing temperatures for ancient pottery at mild conditions (below 600 °C) with high precision. In this work, the firing temperatures of BRB samples from two archaeological sites located in the Middle Euphrates Valley (Syria) have been studied using mineralogical, chemical and thermal analysis. Both mineral characterization techniques and thermal analyses show agreement and firing probably below 600–700 °C. Luminescence yields ambiguous results but circumstantial evidence on the firing temperature between 400 and 550 °C.     

A NEW THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING TECHNIQUE FOR HEATED FLINT*

A new thermoluminescence (TL) technique for determining the age of heated flint artefacts from archaeological sites is presented. It is a variant of the SAR protocol, which is usually used for OSL dating of sediment, but it is not based on a presumed model for fitting the dose–response curve. Dose recovery tests as well as comparisons with standard protocols show the accuracy of the new technique. It is found that the sensitivity of the thermoluminescence (TL) signal of flint in the orange–red waveband does not show severe changes due to the heating process while measuring the TL. This allows the application of a short SAR procedure, which requires only two dose points. The technique does not require as much instrument time as other SAR techniques, and thus is advantageous for dating very old samples. The major advantage of this new technique is the small amount of sample material required, which allows the dating of samples that are too small for standard TL dating techniques.