The potential of optically stimulated luminescence for medieval building; A case study at Termez, Uzbekistan

Abstract

Luminescence techniques thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) are generally used to assess the chronology of the last firing of ceramics. In the field of building archaeology, fired bricks can be dated by these techniques. Nevertheless, these luminescence ages are not exactly related to the construction of the building itself, but to the production of the building materials. In some cases, re-use is possible and this raises problems with the interpretation of the dating results. This led us to employ optically stimulated luminescence in a less conventional way. Before bricks were sealed in masonry by mortar, they would have been exposed to day light, and, as a result, the optical traps of the crystals on the material surface should have been bleached (zeroed by light). Dating the end of the bleaching period is possible by OSL using blue light for stimulation and by IRSL (infrared stimulated luminescence) using IR stimulation. Thus the OSL or IRSL age for these crystals is directly related to the construction of the architectural structure. Experiments were carried out to determine the suitability of this approach and to solve practical problems of sampling. The results show that the bleaching light penetrates between 0.5 to 1 mm into the bricks, according to their transparency. This depth is sufficient to collect enough quartz and feldspar inclusions that have been affected by light in the past, and thus date the construction of the masonry directly. Attempts at surface dating of bricks collected at the medieval citadel of Termez, Uzbekistan, already dated by TL, were the starting point of this research.