Archaeointensity studies of Peruvian pottery - from 1200 BC to 1800 AD

Abstract

Archaeointensities were determined by the Thellier method from about 60 ceramic samples from Peru, with ages ranging from 1200 BC to 1800 AD. The stability of NRM was analyzed for each sample using stepwise thermal demagnetisation. Partial TRM checks were used to detect any chemical change due to the laboratory heating. Anisotropy of both magnetic susceptibility and TRM were measured but found to be very small. The mineral magnetic properties of the samples were investigated using several techniques, and the results were used to estimate magnetic mineralogy and successfully select samples suitable for archaeointensity measurements. Finally, a secular variation curve covering the past 3000 yr was obtained for Peru. -from Authors