Thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence dating of bricks from the Thung Tuk archaeological site, Southern Thailand

Abstract

Thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) based dating were applied to ancient fired bricks to derive the chronology of the Thung Tuk archaeological site (TT), southern Thailand. In order to test the feasibility of brick dating, the inside and outside portions of the brick mass were dated separately. From the obtained results, the outside portion of the brick mass was found to be more suitable for luminescence dating than the inside portion since the inside might be incompletely fired during the production process. Among the brick ages obtained using the outside portion, both the TL and OSL (with a minimum model) analyses were all in agreement with the known ages of the TT, except for one sample that appeared to be much younger. This likely represents a subsequent renovation brick. Thus, the assessment of renovation and other imports into sites should be carefully considered in future luminescence dating.

Keywords

• thermoluminescence
• optically stimulated luminescence
• brick
• Thung Tuk archaeological site
• Southern Thailand