Thermoluminescence dating

Over the last few years the Nordic Laboratory for Thermoluminescence (TL) Dating has obtained TL dates for a considerable number of archaeological samples, ceramics, bricks, burnt clay and burnt stones from the Nordic countries. The majority of TL dates have been consistent and in agreement with other dating evidence. Discrepancies caused primarily by excessive short‐term fading of the latent TL signal were encountered in a few cases. A procedure for eliminating errors caused by short‐term fading is described. A brief discussion of the sources of error in TL dating is given. Finally, results obtained by TL are compared with those obtained by radiocarbon for a number of sites.