Collaborative Research: Testing and Refining Ceramic Rehydroxylation Dating

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，分别来自密歇根理工大学、亚利桑那州立大学和加州州立大学长滩分校的Timothy Scarlett、Kostalena Michelaki和Carl Lipo将领导一个跨学科和跨国合作团队，对新发现的烧粘土陶瓷文物的再羟基化测年技术（RHX测年）进行研究。该技术的工作原理是测量陶瓷碎片中与粘土矿物晶体结合的水的质量，然后测量陶瓷样品重吸收和与水结合的温度依赖率，最后使用这些测量来计算每个碎片的年龄（或自上次烧制以来的时间）。如果它被证明是可靠和准确的，这种新的测年工具将彻底改变世界各地的考古实践。研究人员将与特拉维夫大学的同行以及曼彻斯特大学、爱丁堡大学和布拉德福德大学的教师和学生研究团队合作。教师和学生研究团队将对同一组精心挑选的样本进行一系列“盲”RHX测年测试。国际团队将决定实验结果是否可以被目前正在进行RHX研究的不同实验室独立复制，包括对错误率和可重复性的统计评估，测量温度和湿度对RHX过程的影响，以及检查人工制品储存条件对测年结果的可能影响。最终，这些实验的综合结果将使合作者能够完善最能描述再水合/再羟基化过程的模型。这种新的测年技术，如果被证明是有效和可靠的，将对考古实践产生重大的变化。陶瓷技术和实践的研究是考古研究人类适应、文化进程和变化、殖民、贸易和交流等更大问题的核心。世界上几乎任何一个考古实验室都可以用相对较少的初始投资建立相对便宜的仪器，并开始为陶瓷样品生产RHX日期。技术人员不需要大量的高级培训或支持。这项技术如果得到证实，将为世界各地的科学家提供一种廉价的工具。该项目将对考古学科的教学、培训和学习产生广泛的影响。Drs。Scarlett， Michelaki和Lipo通过为研究生和本科生的多学科团队创造基于发现的实践学习机会，建立了他们的研究合作。

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.