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

Dating - ERDÉLYI Balázs: Thermoluminescence dating in the history of arcmtecture

Erdélyi Balázs* THERMOLUMINESCENCE DATING IN THE HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE Abstract - The author summarizes the methods used for dating in the history of architecture and the utilization of these methods in Hungary. The TL dating results of the Round Church of Kallósd are presented. Actually, there is hardly any question more intriguing than that of human-social evolution and development. The history of the various sciences — among them, the history of architecture — is striving to gain an increasingly precise disclosure of the past, and to achieve its convincing scientific explanation. The goal is to trace the most complete picture possible of one-time human communities by investigating societies as living, complex organisms. The most important but at the same time the most uncertain element of undocumented investigations in history sciences - archaeology, art history — is chronology The problem of accuracy and the development of chronology tests has always been in the foreground of theoretical and practical research. Development in the last two decades in the field of archaeological dating has resulted in a technological break through that is expected to make chronology tests a matter of routine. These involve new methods such as computerized determination of components, intracomponent dating, or seriation. Moreover, methods of radioactive isotope dating, dendrochronology, thermoluminescence, archaeomagnetic and obsidian hydration dating have significantly developed. The combination of these biological, physical, chemical and mathematical methods constitute the armoury of comprehensive archaeological dating (Fig. 1). The development of physical dating techniques has much influenced archaeology; in other words several of them suit essentially "absolute" dating. Previously, the archaeologist first determined relative times for findspots and areas by stratigraphy and typology. Thereafter these relative times could be categorized according to find groups from different findspots, either representing a specifically typical style or uniquely belonging to given surroundings. In certain cases, the relative times could directly be converted to absolute times, in areas where historical dates were available. These were rather scarce, however, and were available mainly in regions of classical culture (Egypt, the Near-East), and extended to about 3000 B.C. Dating by these methods essentially depends on the rate of cultural diffusion, and on the correctness of assumptions on the time lag (see the problems of dating for the European Neolithic and Bronze Ages relying on data for the Near—East). 1. Dating in the history of architecture In mvestigating and excavating architectural remnants from past ages, researchers carry out scientific documentation, aiming at tracing the "biography" of the monument in order to acquire essential information underlying the reconstruction. Architecture historical research and archaeological research on monuments involve technical operations (e. g. wall exploration) that, integrated with laboratory and instrumental tests, suits more precise dating of the buildings. In actual practice such * H116 Budapest, Latinka S u. 13.