The first report of a palaeomagnetic study of a Roman pottery kiln is presented. Individual bricks from the walls of the heating chamber have been sampled and measured in order to determine their palaeomagnetic directions. The measurements indicate that the innermost part of the structure was heated well above the Curie point of haematite, enabling the use of the palaeomagnetic declination and inclination, after the axial dipole correction and fitting to the Paris Z ( t ) curve, to infer the age of the last heating event.

The first magnetic polarity stratigraphy of the Ilerdian stratotype locality-the Tremp section, Spain-has been established. In total, 315 samples from 66 levels have been demagnetized, both thermally and by alternating field. Various types of (rock) magnetic behaviors and (low-and high-temperature) magnetization components have been distinguished, and have been correlated with the three sampled rock types: clays, mans and fine-grained sandstones, and coarse-grained sandstones. The paleomagnetic directions have been classified according to their reliability in representing a primary magnetization. The magnetostratigraphy of the Tremp section is characterized by a long reversed polarity zone interrupted by a normal zone. We conclude that the normal polarity interval found in the Ilerdian stratotype may represent Chron 24.2. The lower and upper reversed intervals of the section are then respectively Chrons 24.1R and 24R.