Study and progress of the thermoluminescence dating of the ancient pottery and porcelain

Abstract

Two standard methods, the "fine-grain technique" and the "quartz inclusion technique", and a new method, the pre-dose saturation exponential technique in thermoluminescence (TL) dating of ancient pottery and porcelain were reviewed, especially for the measurement of the paleodose and the annual dose. The two standard methods have been acknowledged in domain of TL dating and are used widely for age determination in archaeology and geology. As a dating tool the TL technique has been of great success in authentication of ancient ceramic art objects. However, a few complicated factors limit the precision and accuracy in age determination. These complicated factors are analyzed and discussed. Therefore, although ceramic TL dating can in general solve the problem of authentication of ancient ceramics, there are still complexities that require further research and study.thermoluminescence dating, pottery, porcelain It has been nearly 50 years since thermoluminescence (TL) was first detected in ancient pottery powder by Grögler et al. [1] and Kennedy and Knopff [2] . Thermoluminescence dating has made considerable progress and played a major role in archaeology and geology for the past 50 years. As a dating tool, the thermoluminescence technique has achieved a great success in the authentication of ancient ceramics, and no other scientific detection method can compare with it.Thermoluminescence is a physical phenomenon. The principle is that when solid is excited by ionization radiation, the accumulated radiation energy is stored in the crystal lattice; once the crystal is heated, the stored radiation energy is transferred immediately into photoenergy and is emitted as a kind of phosphorescence, which is thermoluminescence. Using this phenomoenon, we can determine the production date of ceramics and tiles and can also determine when the geology materials under consideration were heated for the last time. This new technique, developed since the 1960's, has been applied in archaeology and geology dating area. This technique has had a strong impact on museum collections stored in western countries. Some imitations of ancient pottery that had been exhibited in well-known international museums have been discovered [3][4][5] . The resulting 'Thermoluminescence Revolution' has solved puzzles about the authenticity of ancient pottery collections and caused a huge stir among antique collectors.TL is a function of the absorbed radiation dose. Hence, TL dating is mainly to measure two parameters: the paleodose (P) and the annual dose (D). P is the accumulated natural irradiation absorbed dose of the ceramic from manufacturing time to present day. D is the irradiation absorbed dose by a ceramic in one year. The TL age is equal to the "paleodose" divided by the "annual dose". In this way, we can obtain the manufacture date or the age of the ceramic by Paleodose( ) Age( ) . Annual dose( )Although the principle of TL dating is quite simple, it is still hard to obtain accurate values for the paleodose

OSL chronological evidence reveals one of the earliest island-type Neolithic sites in the coastal area of South China

“…The environmental dose rate for pottery samples includes α and β dose rates from inner pottery pieces and γ dose rate from surrounding sediment (Wang et al, 2022a(Wang et al, , 2022b. However, given that the quartz particles tested are not fine-grained in size and are etched by hydrofluoric acid during pretreatment, as well as the fact that the α ray has a very short range, the α dose not have to be considered (Wang, 2009). Therefore, in this study, the total dose rate of the pottery samples included three parts: the β dose inside the pottery pieces, the γ dose provided by the surrounding environment, and the cosmic ray dose.…”

Assessment of structural and thermoluminescence characteristics of porcelain used as an electrical insulator

“…5 When the literature is examined, it becomes apparent that porcelain is typically employed for accident dosimetry, retrospective dosimetry, or dating. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Ancient porcelain samples are frequently TL-dated using the pre-dose effect 110 • C TL peak of quartz, 6 a significant porcelain constituent. Pre-dose measurements of the 110 • C and/or 230 • C TL peaks, and additive dose measurement of 230 • C TL peak are common techniques applied using porcelain for retrospective dosimetry.…”

“…When the literature is examined, it becomes apparent that porcelain is typically employed for accident dosimetry, retrospective dosimetry, or dating 6–16 . Ancient porcelain samples are frequently TL‐dated using the pre‐dose effect 110°C TL peak of quartz, 6 a significant porcelain constituent.…”