Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T21:21:28.083Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Direct Dating of Prehistoric Canal Sediments Using Archaeomagnetism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jeffrey L. Eighmy  and
Jerry B. Howard
Jeffrey L. Eighmy
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
Jerry B. Howard
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The problems with dating prehistoric canals are renowned, due to the fact they seldom contain material appropriate for traditional dating methods. However, the application of archaeomagnetic techniques may offer a method of dating canals in those regions where master curves of polar wandering already exist. Detrital remanent magnetism in Hohokam canal sediments seems to produce accurate dates with ranges of ca. 200 years, twice the resolution of previous canal-dating attempts. However, at least some of the sediments seem to record inclinations that are less accurate than the declinations. In these cases, the declination values for the sediments can be compared to master declinations curves as a method of dating the sediments.

Résumé

Résumé

Los problemas de datar canales prehistóricos son muy conocidos; pocas veces se recupera el material adecuado para obtener fechados por medio de métodos tradicionales. Sin embargo, las téchnicas arqueomagnéticas pueden ofrecer una alternativa para datar los canales en regiones para las cuales ya existen curvas maestras de desviación polar. El magnetismo detrítico remanente que occurre en los sedimentos de un canal Hohokam parece darfechas precisas enun rango de 200 años. Este método dobla la precisión obtenida en previos intentos de datar los canales. Sin embargo, por lo menos algunos sedimentos parecen registrar inclinaciones menos precisas que las declinaciones. En estos casos, un método de datación consiste en comparar los valores de las declinaciones de estos sedimentos con las curvas maestras de declinaciones.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , January 1991 , pp. 88 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ackerly, N. W. 1988 Prehistoric Agricultural Activities : Hohokam Irrigation Cycles A. D. 700-1100. Northland Research Inc., Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Ackerly, N. W., and Henderson, T. K. 1989 Prehistoric Agricultural Activity on the Lehi-Mesa Terrace : Perspectives on Hohokam Irrigation Cycles. Northland Research, Inc., Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Adams, R. M. 1966 The Evolution of Urban Society, Early Mesopotamia and Prehistoric Mexico. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Ahlstrom, R. V. N. 1985 The Interpretation of Archaeological Tree-Ring Dates. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Arizona. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Aitken, M. J. 1974 Physics and Archaeology. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Barton, C. E., McElhinny, M. W., and Edwards, D. J. 1980 Laboratory Studies of Depositional DRM. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 61 : 355–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boserup, E. 1965 The Conditions of Agricultural Growth. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Bontrages, D. R. 1989 Archaeological Testing and Data Recovery at AZ U : 9 : 75(ASM), a Prehistoric Canal Segment Located Along the North Side of Belle Butte in Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona. Archaeological Research Services, Inc., Tempe.Google Scholar
Clark, A. J. 1979 Archaeomagnetic Dating. In Three Surrey Hillforts : Excavations at Anstiebury, Holmbury and Hascombe, 1972-1977, edited by Thompson, F. H.. Antiquaries Journal 59 : 245–318.Google Scholar
Clark, A. J., Tarling, D. H., and Noel, M. 1988 Developments in Archaeomagnetic Dating in Britain. Journal of Archaeological Science 15 : 645–667.Google Scholar
Creer, K. M., Thompson, R., Molneux, L., and Mackereth, F. J.H. 1972 Geomagnetic Secular Variation Recorded in the Stable Magnetic Remanence of Recent Sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 14 : 115–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, J. S. 1978 Independent Dating in Archaeological Analysis. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 1, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 233–255. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Eighmy, J. L. 1980 Archaeomagnetism : A Handbook for the Archeologist. Interagency Archeological Services, U. S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Eighmy, J. L., Hathaway, J. H., and Counce, S. 1987 Independently Dated Virtual Geomagnetic Poles : The CSU Archaeometric Data Base. Technical Series No. 1. Colorado State University Archaeometric Lab, Fort Collins.Google Scholar
Eighmy, J. L., Hathaway, J. H., and Kane, A. E. 1990 The Dolores Modification : Final Results. In Archaeomagnetic Dating, edited by Eighmy, J. L. and Sternberg, R. S., pp. 226–236. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Eighmy, J. L., and Klein, P. Y. 1990 Archaeomagnetic Results from Archaeological Sediments in the Southwest. Technical Series No. 5. Colorado State University Archaeometric Lab, Fort Collins.Google Scholar
Greenwald, D. H. 1988 Water Conveyance Features. In Archaeological Investigations at the Dutch Canal Ruin, Phoenix, Arizona, edited by Greenwald, D. H. and Ciolek-Torrello, R., pp. 54–89. Research Paper No. 38. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Greenwald, D. H., and Ciolek-Torrello, R. 1988 Archaeological Investigations at the Dutch Canal Ruin, Phoenix, Arizona. Research Paper No. 38. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Hamano, Y. 1980 An Experiment on the Post-depositional Remanent Magnetization in Artificial and Natural Sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 51 : 221–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirooka, K. 1983 Results from Japan. In Geomagnetism of Baked Clays and Recent Sediments, edited by Creer, K. M., Tucholka, P., and Barton, C. E., pp. 150–157. Elsevier, New York.Google Scholar
Howard, J. B., and Eighmy, J. L. 1990 Absolute Dating, Chronology Building, and the Hohokam Expressway Canal System. In Prehistoric Canals in the East Papago Freeway Corridor, edited Howard, J. B.. Soil Systems, Inc., Phoenix, in press.Google Scholar
Howard, J. B. 1990 Paleohydraulics : Modeling the Operation and Evolution of an Irrigation Community. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
King, R. F. 1955 The Remanent Magnetism of Artificially Deposited Sediments. Monthly Notes of the Royal Astronomical Society 7 : 115–134.Google Scholar
Johnson, A. W., and Earle, T. 1987 The Evolution of Human Societies : From Foraging Group to Agrarian State. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Kovacheva, M. 1980 Summarized Results of the Archaeomagnetic Investigations of the Geomagnetic Field Variation for the Last 8000 Years in Southeastern Europe. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 61 : 57–64.Google Scholar
Lovlie, R. 1976 Post-Depositional Remanent Magnetism in a Re-Deposited Deep-Sea Sediment. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 21 : 315–320.Google Scholar
Mackereth, F. J. H. 1971 On the Variation in Direction of the Horizontal Component of Remanent Magnetization in Lake Sediments. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 12 : 332–338.Google Scholar
Mardia, K. V. 1972 Statistics of Directional Data. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Massey, W. B. 1987 Archaeological Investigations of Portions of the Las Acequias-Los Muertos Irrigation System. Archaeological Series No. 176. Arizona State Museum, Tucson.Google Scholar
McNish, A. G., and Johnson, E. A. 1938 Magnetization of Unmetamorphosed Varves and Marine Sediments. Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity 43 : 401–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFadden, P. L., and Lowes, F. J. 1981 The Discrimination of Mean Directions Drawn from Fisher Distributions. Geophysical Journal of the • Royal Astronomical Society 67 : 19–33.Google Scholar
Mitchell, D. R. 1989a Archaeological Investigation at Grand Canal Ruins : A Classic Period Site in Phoenix, Arizona. Soil Systems Publication in Archaeology No. 12. Soil Systems, Inc., Phoenix.Google Scholar
Mitchell, D. R. 1989b El Caserio : Colonial Period Settlement Along the East Papago Freeway. Soil Systems Publication in Archaeology No. 14. Soil Systems, Inc., Phoenix.Google Scholar
Mitchell, D. R. 1990 The La Lomita Excavations : 10th Century Hohokam Occupation in South-Central Arizona. Soil Systems Publication in Archaeology No. 15. Soil Systems, Inc., Phoenix.Google Scholar
Nicholas, L. M. 1981 Irrigation and Sociopolitical Development in the Salt River Valley, Arizona : An Examination of Three Prehistoric Canal Systems. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Nicholas, L. M., and Neitzel, J. 1984 Canal Irrigation and Sociopolitical Organization in the Lower Salt River Valley : A Diachronic Analysis. In Prehistoric Agricultural Strategies in the Southwest, edited by Fish, S. F. and Fish, P. R., pp. 161–178. Anthropological Research Paper No. 33. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Nichols, R. 1975 Archeomagnetic Study of Anasazi-Related Sediments of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Geosciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman.Google Scholar
Otofuji, Y., and Sasajima, S. 1981 A Magnetization Process of Sediments : Laboratory Experiments in Post-Depositional Remanent Magnetization. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 66 : 241–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, M. A., and Verosub, K. L. 1982 The Acquisition of Post-depositional Detrital Remanent Magnetization in a Variety of Natural Sediments. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 68 : 625–642.Google Scholar
Shcherbakov, V. P., and Shcherbakova, V. V. 1983 On the Theory of Depositional Remanent Magnetization in Sedimentary Rocks. Geophysical Surveys 5 : 369–380.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. S. 1982 Archaeomagnetic Secular Variation of Direction and Palaeointensity in the American Southwest. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Arizona. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. S. 1989 Secular Variation of Archaeomagnetic Direction in the American Southwest. Journal of Geophysical Research 94 : 527–546.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarling, D. H. 1983 Palaeomagnetism : Principles and Applications in Geology, Geophysics and Archaeology. Chapman and Hall, New York.Google Scholar
Thellier, E. 1981 Sur la direction du champ magnetique terrestre en France durant les deux derniers millenaires. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 24 : 89–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verosub, K. L. 1977 Depositional and Post-depositional Processes in the Magnetization of Sediments. Review of Geophysics and Space Physics 15 : 129–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verosub, K. L. 1988 Geomagnetic Secular Variation and the Dating of Quaternary Sediments. In Dating Quaternary Sediments, edited by Easterbrook, D. J., pp. 123–139. Special Paper No. 227. Geophysical Society of America, Boulder.Google Scholar
Verosub, K. L., and Mehringer, P. J. Jr. 1984 Congruent Paleomagnetic and Archeomagnetic Records from the Western United States : A. D. 750 to 1450. Science 224 : 387–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verosub, K. L., Mehringer, P. J. Jr., and Waterstraat, P. 1986 Holocene Secular Variation in Western North America : Paleomagnetic Record from Fish Lake, Harney County, Oregon. Journal of Geophysical Research 91 : 3609–3623.Google Scholar
Waters, M. R., Howard, J. B., and Greenwald, D. 1988 Radiometric Dating of Prehistoric Irrigation Features : Progress and Problems. Paper presented at the 1988 Meeting of the Arizona Archaeological Council, Phoenix.Google Scholar
Wittfogel, K. A. 1957 Oriental Despotism : A Comparative Study of Total Power. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Wolfman, D. 1981 Archeomagnetic Dating in Arkansas and the Border Areas of Adjacent States. In Arkansas in Review, edited by Jeter, M. and Trubowitz, N., pp. 277–306. Arkansas Archeological Survey, Fayetteville.Google Scholar
Wolfman, D. 1984 Geomagnetic Dating Methods in Archaeology. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 7, edited by Schif Ter, M. B., pp. 363–458. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar