Thermoluminescence dating the age of Ballabur castle

Abstract

The presented work was the first attempt to increase the accuracy of dating natural archeological monuments, namely, the Ballabur castle in Lenkaran of Azerbaijan Republic, by employing the Thermoluminescence (TL) dating method. Luminescence measurements were performed to find out the equivalent dose (ED). Registration of TL signal was carried out using the HarshowTLD 3500 Manual Reader. The irradiation was performed at an ambient temperature from a 60 Co source at different dose levels, and a dose rate of the 60 Co source was determined by EPR spectrometric method using an individually wrapped Alanine Dosimeter. Soil samples were collected close to the pottery sample to determine the natural dose rate. Uranium, Thorium, and Potassium concentrations in soil. The annual dose rate was obtained using a γ-spectrometer with a hyper-pure germanium detector, which was 2.98±0.19 mGy/year. the cosmic dose rate, which pertains to radiation from cosmic sources, was also calculated and found to be 0.10±0.01 Gy/ka. Online dose rate and age calculator calculated the sample's age as 920±50 years which is in line with the age of this area estimated by historians.