Collaborative Research: Testing and Refining Ceramic Rehydroxylation Dating

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With National Science Foundation support, Drs. Timothy Scarlett, Kostalena Michelaki and Carl Lipo from Michigan Technological University, Arizona State University and California State University-Long Beach respectively will lead an interdisciplinary and multinational team of collaborators to investigate the newly discovered Rehydroxylation Dating Technique (RHX dating) for fired-clay ceramic artifacts. The technique works by measuring the mass of water that has bonded with clay mineral crystals in a ceramic fragment, then measuring the temperature-dependent rate at which that ceramic sample reabsorbs and bonds with water, and finally using those measures to calculate each fragment's age (or time since last firing). If it proves reliable and accurate, this new dating tool could revolutionize archaeological practice around the world. The researchers will collaborate with counterparts at Tel Aviv University, as well as teams of faculty and student researchers at the Universities of Manchester, Edinburgh, and Bradford. The faculty and student research teams will engage in a series of "blind" RHX dating tests on the same set of carefully chosen samples. The international teams will determine if experimental results can be independently replicated by different labs currently doing RHX research, including statistical evaluations of rates of error and repeatability, measuring the effects of temperature and humidity on the RHX process, and examining the possible effects of artifact storage conditions on dating outcomes. Ultimately, the combined results of these experiments will allow the collaborators to refine the model that best describes the rehydration/rehydroxylation process. This new dating technique, if proven valid and reliable, will effect substantial changes on archaeological practice. Studies of ceramic technology and practice are central to archaeological research into larger questions of human adaptation, cultural processes and change, colonization, and trade and exchange. With a comparatively minor initial investment, almost any archaeology lab in the world could set up the relatively inexpensive instrumentation and begin producing RHX dates for ceramic samples. The technical staff would not need a great deal of advanced training or support. This technique, if proven, will provide an inexpensive tool that can be widely available for scientists around the world. This project will have broad impacts on teaching, training, and learning in archaeological science. Drs. Scarlett, Michelaki and Lipo have built their research collaboration by creating discovery-based, hands-on learning opportunities for multidisciplinary teams of graduate and undergraduate students.