The Rehydroxylation Dating of Unglazed Ceramics by Infrared Spectroscopy

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，克里斯托弗史蒂文森和玛丽格尼克博士进行研究，以推进和改进最近提出的陶瓷测年技术。陶瓷再羟基化年代测定法（英语：Ceramic rehydroxylation dating，RHX）是一种应用于古陶瓷的方法，根据陶瓷在窑中制造和烧制后的吸水量来估计史前陶瓷的年龄。 这种方法立即引起了全球广大考古学家的兴趣，他们努力使用考古遗址的陶瓷材料开发和完善考古年表。 在那些简单的陶器和少量的表面装饰是文化技术的一部分的地方，年表的建立特别具有挑战性。 这种测年方法为单个碎片提供了定量的年龄估计，具有高度信息化和广泛应用的潜力。 对过去事件发生时间的控制不佳限制了对过去行为假设的评估能力，但RHX测年法有可能消除目前的这种限制，在这项研究中要完善的陶瓷再羟基化测年法是非常有利的，因为它具有可用性，技术简单，成本低的原因。 在世界的许多地方，史前的后期阶段都有大量的陶器记录，在许多地方都能找到陶器碎片。 因此，潜在有用样本的范围很大。 根据目前的结构，实验设计使用传统技术，如红外光谱，因此应用测年方法有可能保持非常负担得起。 在这项研究中，研究人员将阐明再羟基化过程如何随陶瓷成分和烧制温度而变化，并寻求使测年方法尽可能直接，并在单一技术内;这项研究的合作者来自考古学，化学，在美国自然历史博物馆（AMNH），弗吉尼亚联邦大学（VCU）和理查德布兰德学院（RBC）等知名机构进行历史/史前考古学。 AMNH有机会获得大量有据可查的已知年代的人工制品收藏，目前正在对格鲁吉亚的圣凯瑟琳岛的史前陶瓷进行长期研究。VCU和RBC为与拟议研究相关的项目带来基本仪器和专业知识。 研究人员设计了一系列实验来了解陶瓷中水吸附的变化行为，并选择了可以正确评估结果的考古案例。 研究团队包括高级研究人员、两名研究生和一名本科生助理，他们将参与实验、评估和出版阶段。 他们将通过演讲、出版物和小型博物馆展览在国家、州和地方各级传播成果。收集的数据将有助于至少两个高级学位。本科生将参与研究。 更广泛地说，随着实验室规程的完善和该方法的应用日益广泛，该项目将促进美国和国际上科学家和社区之间的联系。

With NSF support Drs Christopher Stevenson and Mary Gurnick conduct research to advance and improve a recently proposed ceramic dating technique. Ceramic rehydroxylation dating (RHX) is a method applied to ancient ceramics to estimate the age of prehistoric pottery based upon the amount of water absorption after manufacture and firing in the kiln. This method has instantaneously captured the interest of a vast global audience of archaeologists who work diligently at developing and refining archaeological chronologies using ceramic materials from archaeological sites. Chronology building is particularly challenging in locations where simple earthen pottery with modest amounts of surface decoration are part of the cultural technology. This dating method which provides a quantitative age estimate for an individual fragment has the potential to be highly informative and widely applied. Poor control over the timing of events in the past has restricted the ability to evaluate hypotheses about past behavior but RHX dating has the potential to eliminate much of this current constraint.The ceramic rehydroxylation dating method to be refined in this research is highly advantageous for reasons of availability, technical simplicity, and reduced cost. In many parts of the world, later phases of prehistory have an ample ceramic record and pottery fragments are found in many contexts. Thus the range of potentially useful samples is high. As currently structured, the experimental design uses conventional technologies such as infrared spectroscopy and therefore application of the dating method has the potential to remain very affordable. In this research, the investigators will clarify how the rehydroxylation process may vary with ceramic composition and firing temperature and seek to keep the dating method as straight forward as possible and within a single technology; that of infrared spectroscopy.The collaborators in this research come from the fields of archaeometry, chemistry, and historic/prehistoric archaeology at established institutions such as the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), and Richard Bland College (RBC). The AMNH has access to large well-documented artifact collections of known age and is currently engaged in a long-term study of prehistoric ceramics on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia. VCU an RBC bring basic instrumentation and expertise to the project that is relevant to the proposed research. The researchers have designed a set of experiments to understand the varying behavior of water adsorption in ceramics and have selected archaeological case examples that can properly evaluate the results. The research team includes advanced researchers, two graduate students, and an undergraduate assistant who will participate in the experimental, evaluative, and publication phases. They will disseminate results at both the national, state, and local level through presentations, publications and small museum exhibits. The data collected will contribute to at least two advanced academic degrees. Undergraduate students will participate in the research. More broadly, the project will promote linkages between scientists and communities in the United States and internationally as the laboratory protocols are refined and the application of the method becomes increasingly applied.