Remanent magnetism of anorganic and organic substances and its exploitation in treating historical problems

Summary Properties of the thermoremanent magnetization of various archaeological materials (baked-clay objects, samples from old trees, bones and stones) were investigated with the purpose to assess the possibility of their use for the determination of the earth's magnetic field in the historical past and to apply the data for solving some practical problems. It turns out that most of those materials yield magnetic values that can be used for making the radiocarbon dating method more accurate, for determining the degree of burning and for direct archaeomagnetic dating. The new conclusions also contribute to the knowledge of changes in the earth's magnetic field in the past.