Flashcards on Scientific Dating Methods in Archaeology
Scientific Dating Methods in Archaeology: Your Student Guide
Tap to flip · Swipe to navigate
Scientific dating methods in African archaeology
86 cards
Card 1
Question: What is an advantage of using tephra layers for dating in archaeological sediments?
Answer: Tephra layers are often relatively easily identified in sediments and excavation sequences, making them useful as dating markers.
Card 2
Question: What is cryptotephra and why is it important for dating?
Answer: Cryptotephra is very fine volcanic glass invisible to the naked eye; being lighter it is more widely dispersed during eruptions, allowing correlation
Card 3
Question: Which analytical methods are commonly used to establish the geochemical fingerprint of tephra and cryptotephra?
Answer: Ion microprobe and laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA ICP-MS) measurements are commonly used.
Card 4
Question: Name two potential problems with tephrochronology.
Answer: Mis-correlation of one tephra horizon with another geochemically similar eruption, and alteration of tephra chemistry over time.
Card 5
Question: Why is tephrochronology especially important in East African hominin sites?
Answer: Because of its association with the East African Rift System, tephrochronology provides useful datable horizons throughout the Pliocene and Quaternary
Card 6
Question: Which other dating methods are often combined with tephrochronology in East African contexts?
Answer: U-series dating, magnetostratigraphy, and OSL dating are frequently combined with tephrochronology.
Card 7
Question: What is the archaeological site Thulamela and where is it located?
Answer: Thulamela is a Late Iron Age hilltop settlement near Pafuri in the Kruger National Park of South Africa, enclosed by stone walls with a large structur
Card 8
Question: What cultural phases were identified at Thulamela based on excavation findings?
Answer: Two distinct occupation phases: a pre-walling phase with pottery consistent with a pre-Khami group, and a second phase associated with extensive stone
Card 9
Question: What dating method did Vogel (2000) use at Thulamela and how many dates were obtained?
Answer: Vogel (2000) obtained a suite of eighteen radiocarbon (C) dates.
Card 10
Question: How did the radiocarbon date Pta-7307 from Thulamela calibrate and what context was it associated with?
Answer: Pta-7307, from charcoal in a midden at the outskirts of the palace wall, calibrated to 1290–1420 CE (2σ) and matched other pre-walling dates.