Thermoluminescence dating (TL) is a technique which holds out great promise for archaeology in the age determination of inorganic materials, especially in the period beyond 50,000 years ago. Unfortunately, many complications in the use of the technique need to be resolved before it can be used routinely and with precision. Drs. Hornyak and Franklin will conduct a one year project to further develop the TL technique for archaeological materials as applied to situations for which other techniques (e.g. C14) are limited or not available. Such situations include the dating of sediments in archaeological deposits, objects older that the limits for C14 (over 50,000 years), and inorganic specimens with no associated carbon deposits, and objects, such as pottery, whose archaeological context has been lost, as in museums. The development of TL dating is of extreme importance and the PI's are well-qualified and experienced to undertake this important project.
