Abstract
An assemblage of rocks, such as comprising a fireplace, will acquire a remanent magnetization upon cooling parallel to the ambient geomagnetic field and thus will share a common direction of magnetization. Detailed palaeomagnetic analyses of oriented samples will reveal whether these rocks have remained in situ since the last heating event or whether these rocks have moved or represent discard material. Thermal demagnetization makes it possible in many cases to estimate the maximum temperature which a given rock has experienced. The direction of magnetization can be used to reposition rocks to their cooling position and the cooling history of boiling stones can be reconstructed for some rocks. This paper presents results obtained from burned rocks from various archaeological sites.
Published Version
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