DATING SERVICES

The Durham Luminescence dating laboratory undertakes dating of coarse or fine-grained Quartz and K-feldspars from sediment, pottery, ceramics, bricks, mortar, etc. at the multi-grain and single-grain levels. If you are interested in getting material dated, contact us stating:

• The number of samples (giving an approximate if unknown).

• An estimate of the expected age (e.g. Holocene, Bronze age, Medieval, Younger Dryas, LGM, MIS5, etc.)

• The depositional context of the material (e.g. glacio-fluvial sediments, cave, rock shelter, fluvial terraces, lake deposits, aeolian sediments, etc.)

• The depth (in cm) of the samples and the coordinates (in decimal degrees) / altitude (m) of the site(s) sampled.

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This will allow us to advise you on the best options to date your samples, give you a quotation and estimation of the turnaround times - prices will vary depending on the number of samples, the antiquity and the depositional contexts.

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Please contact us before sending samples to establish the feasibility of the dating. It is important to discuss the details of the sedimentary environments prior to starting the measurements to adapt our approach and calculations.

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A member of the laboratory can be collecting the samples if needed, to define the best sampling strategies and to measure in-situ dose rates, both enhancing accuracy and precision of the dating.

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The OSL dating results are provided in the form of a report with detailed preparation, measurement procedures and ages. We can contribute to technical or rescue archaeology reports and publications.

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