M. Járó - L. Költő szerk.: Archaeometrical research in Hungary (Budapest, 1988)

Dating - BENKŐ Lázár: Thermoluminescence dating of Hungarian archaeological sites (potteries, hearths, calcite)

of Tiszapolgár-Basatanya. A review of these investigations is due to be presented [5]. Preliminary results, suggesting two distinct archaeological periods, have already been described in eariier papers [6, 7, 8]. A number of projects are in progress with a view to dating some other neoüthic and copper age cultures in Hungary (Csőszhalom, Bodrogzsadány, Tiszaszólős) and in Yugoslavia (Vucedol). Applications in industrial archaeology During the last five years, several fragments from ancient furnaces and hearths have been investigated. Oppositely to the prehistoric potteries, these findings are sufficienty rich in quartz grains, so the sample preparation can easily be performed. In most cases, unfortunately, large mineral inclusions and various inhomogeneities can also be found in and around the fired material. The true dosimetry situation is strongly affected by these local inhomogeneities which represent a severe limitation in the accuracy of the annual dose. Therefore, in industrial archaeology, the overall uncertainty of TL age amounts to 10-20%, depending on the properties of the context. Only some of the results are given here : - Iron-smelting hearth, Tarjánpuszta, sample ref. 79/22. TL age : 1400 years (±25%) [9]. - Smelting-hearth, Kányaszurdok, sample refs. 2/80 and 4/80. TL ages: 1190 (+20 ... ... -10%) and 1260 (+20 ... -10%) years, respectively [10]. - Lime kiln, Pilisszántó. TL authentification : 17th to 18th century [11]. - Hearths [11]: Sample ref. Probable TL age (years) G1/80 (Tarjánpuszta) 1130-1200 G2/80 (Kányaszurdok) 1190 G3/80 (Kányaszurdok) 1260 G4/80 (Kányaszurdok) 1250 - Iron-smelting furnace (Sopron). TL authentification: 10th century or older [12]. - "Red earthwork", Sopron. TL age: 835 years (±12%) [13]. Dating of natural calcite Detailed investigations are in progress, therefore only a few preliminary results are presented here. It has been supposed that at the formation of calcite the latent TL was zero [1]. The samples (an "old" flowstone sheet and a "recent" stalactite) originate from the Hajnóczy cave (Bükk mountains). The flowstone crust was cut into layers of 1 cm each (up to a depth of 15 cm). Sample preparation was similar to that of the potteries but the grains were subjected only to a gentle treatment in acetic acid. Due to the strong spurious signal in the TL peak at around 300 °C, no realistic ages were obtained with recent stalactites. Typical glow curves of the crust (samples from the layer at 10 cm below the actual crust surface) are shown in Fig. 6. At this depth the equivalent dose amounts to 100-200 Gy.