Luminescence dating of a transitional Chalcolithic/Bronze Age site in Jordan

Abstract

In this study, we test the applicability of luminescence dating to geo-archaeological sediments from a “tell” (mound) formation. Combined quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and K-feldspar infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating were applied to eight sediment samples taken from the Tell al-Magass archaeological site in southern Jordan. The site is made up of a sequence of multiple sandy and ash layers covering architectural features of stone and mudbrick. OSL samples were collected from layers previously dated by 14C. Both quartz and alkali feldspars (KF) were measured using, for quartz, blue OSL and, for feldspar, IR50 and pIRIR290 signals. The pIRIR290 signals required the subtraction of residual doses (measured using prolonged stimulation in a daylight simulator); in contrast, the IR50 signals did not include a significant residual dose but did require correction for anomalous fading. The resulting agreement of the ages from the two IRSL signals with those from quartz confirms that the quartz was fully reset before or during the last daylight transport event. This is further confirmed by the satisfactory comparison with previously published 14C dates from the same section. We conclude that luminescence is likely to be very suitable for dating “tell” sediments from this region.