Absolute dating of historical buildings: the contribution of thermoluminescence (TL)

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Martini, M. | Sibilia, E.

Affiliations: INFN and Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, via R. Cozzi 53, 20125 Milano, Italy

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of ceramic materials is nowadays a consolidated and powerful archaeometric technique. The Luminescence Dating Laboratory of the Department of Material Science (Milano Bicocca University) started its activity in this field in 1980 and since then several thousands of samples have been successfully dated. In recent years, TL dating has been extensively and systematically applied to bricks sampled from historical buildings spanning from Roman period to the late XIX century. This particular application of TL dating technique is presented, and its potential and specificity are illustrated and discussed.

Keywords: Archaeometry, Thermoluminescence dating, Building archaeology, Ceramic materials

DOI: 10.1080/10238160600673326

Journal: Journal of Neutron Research, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 69-74, 2006