Emmanuelle Vieillevigne

Changes in luminescence properties induced by thermal treatments; a case study at Sipan and Trujillo Moche sites (Peru)

Abstract TL-dating studies were carried out on prehispanic pottery attributed to the Moche culture of Peru (from BC 200 to AD 800 according to the previously known chronology). A greater than expected scatter in ages was found for samples known, from archaeological considerations, to have been contemporaneous. This was related to applying a fixed, but inappropriate, annealing temperature to the grains prior to their irradiation to regenerate the TL growth curve. The dependence of growth of TL and equivalent dose evaluation on this annealing temperature was tested in the range 400–1000°C. A combined cathodoluminescence/TL study was used to select the appropriate thermal treatment for evaluation of the final equivalent dose. This procedure, which we suggest can be generally applied in pottery dating, resulted in a reduction of age dispersion when applied to groups of contemporaneous ceramics.