Abstract
We present an updated compilation of Greek directional archaeomagnetic data for the last 4.5 millennia. The data set comprises 89 directions from archaeological artefacts and volcanic rocks. Most of the data come from the Late Bronze Age (1700-1400 BC) that is the flourishing period of the Minoan civilization in Crete, while parts of the classical (480-323 BC), Hellenistic (323-31 BC) and Roman (146 BC-330 AD) periods are also well covered. The dataset has been analysed using the Bayesian approach for curve building and a directional secular variation (SV) curve for Greece is proposed. Comparisons with regional and global model predictions show a general agreement even though some discrepancies are observed for some time intervals. The new curves together with the previously published intensity SV curve for Greece, also using the Bayesian approach, form a homogeneous set and enrich our knowledge of the full geomagnetic field vector variation in Greece during the last millennia.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aidona E., Kondopoulou D., Alexandrou M. and Ioannidis N., 2010. Archaeomagnetic studies in kilns from Northern Greece. Bull. Geol. Soc. Greece, XLIII(4), 1888–1897.
Aidona E. and Kondopoulou D., 2012. First archaeomagnetic results and dating of Neolithic structures in northern Greece. Stud. Geophys. Geod., 56, 827–844, DOI: 10.1007/s11200-011-9006-8.
Aitken M.J. and Hawley H.N., 1967. Archaeomagnetic measurements in Britain-IV. Archaeometry, 10, 129–135.
Belshé J.C., Cook K. and Cook R.M., 1963. Some archaeomagnetic results from Greece. Ann. Br. Sch. Athens, 58, 8–13.
Betancourt P.P., 1987. Dating the Aegean Late Bronze Age with radiocarbon — research notes and application reports. Archaeometry, 29, 45–49.
De Marco E., 2007. Complete Magnetic and Archaeomagnetic Measurements in Archaeological Sites: Contribution to the SVC for Greece. Ph.D. Thesis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, 293 pp.
De Marco E., Spatharas V., Gómez-Paccard M., Chauvin A. and Kondopoulou D., 2008. New archaeointensity results from archaeological sites and variation of the geomagnetic field intensity for the last 7 millennia in Greece. Phys. Chem. Earth, 33, 578–595.
Donadini F., Korte M. and Constable C.G., 2009. Geomagnetic field for 0–3 ka: 1. New data sets for global modelling. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q06007, DOI: 10.1029/2008GC002295.
Downey W.S. and Tarling D.H., 1984. Archaeomagnetic dating of Santorini volcanic eruptions and fired destruction levels of Late Minoan civilization. Nature, 309, 519–523.
Dunn Stuart E., 2002. The Chronology of the Aegean Late Bronze Age with Special Reference to the Minoan Eruption of Thera. Durham Theses, Durham University, http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4169/.
Evans M.E., 2006. Archaeomagnetic investigations in Greece and their bearing on geomagnetic secular variation. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 159, 90–95, DOI: 10.1016/j.pepi.2006.06.005.
Evans M.E. and Kondopoulou D., 1998. Archaeomagnetism in Macedonia, Greece: A progress report. Phys. Chem. Earth, 23, 1027–1028.
Fanjat G., Aidona E., Kondopoulou D., Camps P., Rathossi C. and Poidras T., 2013. Archaeointensities in Greece during the Neolithic period: New insights into material selection and secular variation curve. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 215, 29–42, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2012.10.011.
Friedrich W., Kromer B., Friedrich M., Heinemeier J., Pfeiffer T. and Talamo S., 2006. Santorini eruption radiocarbon dated to 1627-1600 B.C. Science, 312, 548–548.
Genevey A., Gallet Y., Constable C., Korte M. and Hulot G., 2008. ArcheoInt: An upgraded compilation of geomagnetic field intensity data for the past ten millennia and its application to recovery of the past dipole moment. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 9, Q04038, DOI: 10.1029/2007GC001881.
Gómez-Paccard M., Catanzariti G., Ruiz-Martinez V.C., McIntosh G., Núñez J.I., Osete M.L, Chauvin A., Lanos Ph., Tarling D.H., Bernal-Casasola D., Thiriot J. and “Archaeological Working Group”, 2006a. A catalogue of Spanish archaeomagnetic data. Geophys. J. Int., 166, 1125–1143, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03020.x.
Gómez-Paccard M., Lanos P., Chauvin A., McInstosh G., Osete M.L., Catanzariti G., Ruiz-Martinez V.C. and Núñez J.I., 2006b. First archaeomagnetic secular variation curve for the Iberian Peninsula: Comparison with other data from Western Europe and with global geomagnetic field models. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 7, Q12001, DOI: 10.1029/2006GC001476.
Jordanova N., Kovacheva M., Hedley I. and Kostadinova M., 2003. On the suitability of baked clay for archaeomagnetic studies as deduced from detailed rock-magnetic studies. Geophys. J. Int., 153, 146–158.
Korte M. and Constable C.G., 2005. Continuous geomagnetic field models for the past 7 millennia: 2.CALS7K. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 6, Q02H16, DOI: 10.1029/2004GC000801.
Korte M., Donadini F. and Constable C.G., 2009. Geomagnetic field for 0-3 ka: 2. A new series of time-varying global models. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q06008, DOI: 10.1029/2008GC002297.
Korte M., Genevey A., Constable C., Frank U. and Schnepp E., 2005. Continuous geomagnetic field models for the past 7 millennia: 1. A new global data compilation. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 6, Q02H15, DOI: 10.1029/2004GC000800.
Kovacheva M., Boyadziev Y., Kostadinova-Avramova M., Jordanova N. and Donadini F., 2009. Updated archaeomagnetic data set of the past 8 millennia from the Sofia laboratory, Bulgaria. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q05002, DOI: 10.1029/2008GC002347.
Lanos Ph., 2004. Bayesian inference of calibration curves: application to archaeomagnetism. In: Buck C.E. and Millard A.R. (Eds.), Tools for Constructing Chronologies, Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries. Lecture Notes in Statistics, 177, Springer-Verlag, London, U.K., 43–82.
Lanos Ph., Le Goff M., Kovacheva M. and Schnepp E., 2005. Hierarchical modelling of archaeomagnetic data and curve estimation by moving average technique. Geophys. J. Int., 160, 440–476.
Le Goff M., Gallet Y., Genevey A. and Warmé N., 2002. On archeomagnetic secular variation curves and archeomagnetic dating. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 134, 203–211.
Le Goff M., Henry B. and Daly L., 1992. Practical method for drawing a VGP path. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 70, 201–204.
Liritzis Y. and Thomas R.C., 1980. Palaeointensity and thermoluminescence measurements on Cretan Kilns from 1300 to 2000 BC. Nature, 283, 54–55.
Manning S.W., 1999. A Test of Time: The Volcano of Thera and the Chronology and History of the Aegean and East Mediterranean in the Mid Second Millennium BC. Oxbow Books, Oxford, U.K.
Manning S., Bronk Ramsey Ch., Kutschera W., Higham T., Kromer B., Steier P. and Wild E., 2006. Chronology for the Aegean Late Bronze age 1700–1400 B.C. Science, 312, 565–569.
Márton P. and Ferencz E., 2006. Hierarchical versus stratification statistical analysis of archaeomagnetic directions: the secular variation curve for Hungary. Geophys. J. Int., 164, 484–489, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02873.x.
Márton P., 2010. Two thousand years of geomagnetic field direction over central Europe revealed by indirect measurements. Geophys. J. Int., 181, 261–268.
Noel M. and Batt C.M., 1990. A method for correcting geographically separated remanence directions for the purpose of archaeomagnetic dating. Geophys. J. Int., 102, 753–756.
Papamarinopoulos S.P., 1987. Geomagnetic intensity measurements from Byzantine vases in the period between 3000 and 1650 AD. J. Geomagn. Geoelectr., 39, 261–270.
Pavón-Carrasco, F. J., Osete, M.L., Torta, J. M., Gaya-Piqué, L. R., 2009. A regional archaeomagnetic model for Europe for the last 3000 years, SCHA.DIF.3K: applications to archaeomagnetic dating. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10(3), Q03013, doi:10.1029/2008GC002244.
Pavón-Carrasco, F. J., Osete, M.L., Torta, J., 2010. Regional modeling of the geomagnetic field in Europe from 6000 BC to 1000 BC. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst, 11, Q11008, doi: 10.1029/2010GC003197.
Pavón-Carrasco, F.J., Rodriguez-Gonzalez, J., Osete, M.L., Torta, J., 2011. A Matlab tool for archaeomagnetic dating. J. Archeol. Sci., 38 (2), 408–419.
Schnepp E. and Lanos Ph., 2005. Archaeomagnetic secular variation in Germany during the past 2500 years. Geophys. J. Int., 163, 479–490.
Schnepp E., Pucher R., Reindeers J., Hambach U., Soffel H. and Hedley I., 2004. A German catalogue of archaeomagnetic data. Geophys. J. Int., 157, 64–78.
Spatharas V., Kondopoulou D., Liritzis I. and Tsokas G.N., 2000. Archaeointensity results from two ceramic kilns from N. Greece. J. Balkan Geophys. Soc., 4, 67–72.
Spatharas V., Kondopoulou D., Aidona E. and Efthimiadis K., 2011. New magnetic mineralogy and archaeointensity results from Greek kilns and baked clays. Stud. Geophys. Geod., 55, 131–157.
Tartaron Th., 2008. Aegean prehistory as world archaeology: recent trends in the archaeology of Bronze age Greece. J. Archaeol. Res., 16, 83–161, DOI: 10.1007/s10814-007-9018-7.
Tarling D.H. and Downey W.S., 1989. Archaeomagnetic results from Late Minoan destruction levels on Crete and the ‘Minoan’ tephra on Thera. In: Hardy D.A. and Renferw A.C. (Eds.), Thera and the Aegean World III, Chronology. The Thera Foundation, London, U.K., 105–109.
Tarling D.H., Kontopoulou D. and Spatharas V., 2004. An archaeomagnetic study of the LM IB kilns. In: Soles J.S. and Davaras C. (Eds.), Mochlos Ic: Period III. Neopalatial Settlement on the Coast: The Artisans’ Quarter and the Farmhouse at Chalinomouri; The smallFinds. Prehistory Monographs 9, Instap Academic Press, Philadelphia, PA.
Tema E., 2011. Archaeomagnetic research in Italy: Recent achievements and future perspectives. In: Petrovský E., Herrero-Bervera E., Harinarayana T. and Ivers D. (Eds.), The Earth’s Magnetic Interior. IAGA Special Sopron Book Series 1, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, 213–233, DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-0323-0_15.
Tema E. and Kondopoulou D., 2011. Secular variation of the Earth’s magnetic field in the Balkan region during the last eight millennia based on archaeomagnetic data. Geophys. J. Int., 186, 603–614, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.05088.x.
Tema E., Gómez-Paccard M., Kondopoulou D. and Ylenia A., 2012. Intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field in Greece during the last five millennia: New data from Greek pottery. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 202–203, 14–26, DOI: 10.1016/j.pepi.2012.01.012.
Tema E., Hedley I. and Lanos Ph., 2006. Archaeomagnetism in Italy: a compilation of data including new results and a preliminary Italian secular variation curve. Geophys. J. Int., 167, 1160–1171, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03150.x.
Warren P.M., 1987. The Genesis of the Minoan Palace. In: Hagg R. and Marinatos N. (Eds.), The Function of the Minoan Palaces. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium at the Swedish Institute in Athens, Stockholm, Sweden, 47–56.
Zananiri I., Batt C., Lanos Ph., Tarling D. and Linford P., 2007. Archaeomagnetic secular variation in the UK during the past 4000 years and its application to archaeomagnetic dating. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., 160, 97–107.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
De Marco, E., Tema, E., Lanos, P. et al. An updated catalogue of Greek archaeomagnetic data for the last 4500 years and a directional secular variation curve. Stud Geophys Geod 58, 121–147 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-013-0910-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11200-013-0910-y