Magnetic moments in prehistory: integrating magnetic measurements with other archaeological data from the Scatness Multiperiod Settlement
✍ Scribed by C. M. Batt; S. J. Dockrill
- Book ID
- 101278290
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 123 KB
- Volume
- 5
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1075-2196
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✦ Synopsis
Many types of human activity affect the magnetic properties of the geological materials on which they occur. By integrating measurements of these magnetic properties, such as susceptibility, viscosity, gradiometry and archaeomagnetic data, with other archaeological data, it is possible to answer detailed archaeological questions about such activities.
The potential of the close integration of magnetic measurements with ongoing archaeological excavation is illustrated in this paper by discussion of studies during the 1995-1997 excavation of a multiperiod settlement mound at Scatness, Shetland. This site is ideal for an investigation of this nature, as it contains over 4 m of stratified archaeological deposits. These represent an occupational sequence spanning several millennia, from Bronze Age cultivated soils; through the Iron Age, represented by a broch and later wheelhouse complex; to the Pictish and Viking period.
This paper focuses on three specific types of context: (i) hearths and burnt areas -using magnetic remanence and susceptibility to determine date and function; (ii) midden deposits -using susceptibility, in combination with chemical and environmental evidence, to determine source material and formation processes; (iii) soils -using susceptibility, in combination with environmental and soil micromorphological evidence, to detect and characterise anthropogenic enhancement of soils. These examples demonstrate that, when combined with other archaeological information, the evidence of human activity retained in magnetic properties can prove a valuable tool for archaeological interpretation. *