ESR/OSL Dating and Firing Temperature Determination of Archeological Pottery from Kumyer Location in Turkey

Abstract

Archeological pottery is a good material that carries important data about ancient human life. Electron spin resonance (ESR) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques are used for dating of a pottery found at Kumyer archeological site by rescue excavation from Muğla city in Turkey located at the western part of Anatolia. The ages estimated by ESR and by OSL methods are 4750±400 a and 4100±400 a, respectively, beinag consistent with an archeological analogical estimate of 3000–2000 B.C. In case of a broad signal overlapped with Al center, to take the frst peak is recommended as the signal intensity of the Al center for ESR dating experiment. Firing temperature of sample is found to be more than 600 °C using the thermal properties of the E1′ center. ESR has an advantage in dating of ancient potteries as the method can confrm that the heating temperature has been high enough to erase the dating signals.