"On the suitability of refractory bricks from a mediaeval brass melting & working site near Dinant (Belgium) as geomagnetic field recorders"
Authors
Hus, J.
Geeraerts, R.
Plumier, J.
Discipline
Earth and related Environmental sciences
Subject
Archaeomagnetism
Archaeomagnetic dating
Belgium
Brass kiln
Magnetic refraction
Refractory bricks
Audience
General Public
Scientific
Date
2004Publisher
IRM
KMI
RMI
Metadata
Show full item recordDescription
Directional field archaeomagnetic data from two oval shaped kilns, of which still one was lined with refractory bricks, unearthed in a brass melting and working site in Bouvignes-sur-Meuse in Belgium, confirm the archaeologic dating as 14–15th century A.D. for the main site activities. The archaeomagnetic dates, obtained using reference secular variation curves of the geomagnetic field direction for France and Great Britain, lead to better time constraints for the cessation of kiln operations. Refractory bricks (firebricks) that are used for their chemical and thermal properties, and in particular for their resistance to high temperatures and temperature changes, are not unusual in metal melting and working sites. The firebricks from the examined site are coarse-grained and very porous inside but possess a very stable remanent magnetisation and revealed to be suitable magnetic field recorders. Although the firebricks have a single-component remanent magnetization, non-random deviations in remanence direction in function of the relative azimuth from the centre of the kiln or with the position of the bricks in the kiln wall, were observed. Several hypotheses for the origin of the deviations were considered: anisotropy, refraction, magnetic interaction, magnetic field distortion and the presence of a local disturbing magnetic source.
Citation
Hus, J.; Geeraerts, R.; Plumier, J. (2004). "On the suitability of refractory bricks from a mediaeval brass melting & working site near Dinant (Belgium) as geomagnetic field recorders". , Issue Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, pp. 103-116, IRM,Identifiers
Type
Article
Peer-Review
Not pertinent
Language
eng