Contribution de la thermoluminescence à la chronologie de la culture du Gaudo : datation de céramiques du site de La Trinita, Piano di sorrento, Italie

Abstract

The contribution of Thermoluminescence to the Chronology of Gaudo Culture : Datation of Pottery from the Site of La Trinita, Piano di Sorrento, Italy. In order to give some new data relevant to the chronology of the Gaudo culture, the earliest eneolithic culture, associated with the appearance of the early copper metallurgy in Italy, a thermoluminescence (TL) study of ceramics extracted from two pit graves (1 and 4) at La Trinita-Piano di Sorrento has been carried out. On the methodological side, the equivalent dose has been determined using the fine grain technique (grain size ranging from 3 to 12μm) ; quartz and feldspars are the major mineral components in the present case. The internal annual dose rate of ceramics has been determined using the non-destructive low background gamma spectrometry data. The external annual dose rate has been measured by on-site direct gammametry. One age determination has been achieved at the grave 1 (BDX 4462) : 2550 ± 380 B.C.; three dates have been obtained for the pit grave 4 (BDX 4459, BDX 4460 and BDX 4465) the weighted average of which is 2350 ± 190 B.C. These datings results are a first chronological set for the site of La Trinita - Piano di Sorrento: they indicate that the graves are dated from the mid past of the third millennium B.C.. Otherwise, it can be notied that these TL results overlap the calibrated radiocarbon dates of the eruption of the Phlegrean Fields.