Cation-Ratio Dating of Varnished Artifacts

Testing the Assumptions

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2576216
AutoresK G Harry (0000-0002-8694-2503, autor de correspondencia)
Año1995
Volumen60
Número1
Páginas118-130
Fecha de publicación1995-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7316 • E-ISSN: 2325-5064
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/282079
OpenAlexW2313577957
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas36

Dorn (1983) has proposed that changes in rock varnish chemistry can be used to date varnished artifacts. Specifically, he suggests that the varnish cation ratio, (K + Ca)/Ti, decreases as the age of the varnished surface increases. Although the method is generating significant archaeological interest, many of its underlying assumptions remain undemonstrated. This paper examines one premise of the method, that the varnishing process is regular. Data obtained from varnish distributional studies challenge this assumption and, when compared with the chemical data obtained from the same archaeological site, suggest that the cation-ratio dating technique may not be able to provide accurate dates for most varnished artifacts

Archaeology · Composite material · Epistemology · Mineralogy · Premise · Varnish · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Geology · History · Materials Science · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology