Archaeomagnetism as a Complementary Dating Technique to Address the Iron Age Chronology Debate in the Levant

Meaningful interpretation of past human culture and political geography requires an accurate chronology that can be correlated with our modern calendar. The timing of seminal events during the Levant Iron Age is hotly debated because conventional dating methods are limited by subjective interpretations and analytical ambiguities. Archaeomagnetism, the study of the Earth's ancient geomagnetic field recorded by heat-treated anthropogenic objects, can provide a complementary dating tool to build a stronger, more robust chronology for the Iron Age. Here we present a description of the field of archaeomagnetic dating, and a brief overview of the chronological issues and radiocarbon dating problems for the Iron Age Levant. We also present a new Near East Archaeomagnetic Curve (NEAC) model for the region along with preliminary data from Khirbet Summeily, Israel

Archaeology · Archaeomagnetic dating · Bronze Age · Chronology · Earth's magnetic field · Geography · Iron Age · Radiocarbon dating · Southern Levant · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies · History · Geology · Paleontology

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