RT Journal Article
T1 First directional European palaeo secular variation curve for the Neolithic based on archaeomagnetic data
A1 Carrancho Alonso, Ángel
A1 Villalain, J.J.
A1 Pavón Carrasco, Francisco Javier
A1 Osete López, María Luisa
A1 Straus, Lawrence Guy
A1 Vergès, Josep María
A1 Carretero, José Miguel
A1 Angelucci, D.E.
A1 González Morales, M.R.
A1 Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis
A1 Bermúdez de Castro, José María
A1 Carbonell i Roura, Eudald
AB Neolithic, Cha1colithic and Bronze Age anthropogenic cave sediments from three caves from northernSpain have been palaeomagnetically investigated. 662 oriented specimens corresponding to 39 burningevents (ash-carbonaceous couplets) from the three sites with an average of 16 samples per fire werecollected. 26 new archaeomagnetic directions have been obtained for the time period ranging from5500 to 2000 yr ca!. BC. These results represent the oldest archaeomagnetic directions obtained fromburnt archaeological materials throughout all Western Europe. Magnetisation is carried by pseudo-singiedomain low-coercivity ferromagnetic minerals (magnetite, magnetite with no significant isomorphoussubstitution and/or maghaemite). Rock-magnetic experiments indicate a thermoremanent origin of themagnetisation although a thermochemical magnetisation cannot be excluded. Combination of the newdata presented here and the recent updated Bulgarian database allows us to propose the first Europeanpalaeosecular variation (PSV) curve for the Neolithic. A bootstrap method was applied for the curveconstruction using penalised cubic B-splines in time. The new palaeosecular variation curve is wellconstrained from 6000 BC to 3700 BC, the period with the highest density of data, showing a declinationmaximum around 4700 BC and a minimum in inclination at 4300 BC, which are not recorded bythe recent global CALSlOK.1 b and regional SCHA.DIF.8K models due to the use of lake sediment data.Dating resolution by using the proposed PSV curve oscillates from approximately ±30 yr to ±200 yrfor the period 6000 to 1000 yr BC, reaching similar resolution as radiocarbon dating. Consideringthe good preservation, age-control and widespread occurrence of burnt archaeological materials acrossSouthern Europe, they represent a new source of data for geomagnetic field modelling, as well as forarchaeomagnetic dating.
PB Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam
SN 0012-821X
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/33649
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/33649
LA eng
DS Docta Complutense
RD 12 jul 2025