Archaeomagnetic investigation and dating of Neolithic archaeological site (Kovachevo) from Bulgaria

Combined rock magnetic and archaeomagnetic investigation have been carried out on the Neolithic site Kovachevo from Bulgaria. The aim of the study is to provide an independent dating for the last usage of discovered oven, related to the earlier stage of the site, in comparison with the previously studied remains of ancient fire in the later layers. Studies on the magnetic mineralogy and stability of the iron oxide particles in the baked clay from the oven provided consistent and valuable data for evaluation of the suitability of the material for obtaining archaeomagnetic information, as well as a basis for evaluation of the reliability of the obtained palaeointensity data. Careful and detailed sampling of the oven revealed the influence of magnetic refraction and wall tilting on the palaeodirection results. The effect was minimized through averaging all the data (for walls and floors of the oven). Archaeomagnetic dating was made utilizing the Lanos' method [L'approche bayesienne en chronometrie: application a l'archeomagnetisme. In: Barrandon, J.-N., Guibert, P., Michel, V (Eds.), Datation, XXIe rencontres internationales d'archeologie et d'histoire d'Antibes, Editions APDCA, Antibes, pp. 113-139; Bayesian inference of calibration curves, application to archaeomagnetism, In: Buck, C.E., Millard, A.R. (Eds.), Tools for Chronology, Crossing Disciplinary Boundaries, Springer-Verlag, London, 2003, pp. 43-82] and gives the period (5712-5571) B.C. as the most probable time of the last usage of the studied oven. This result is in agreement with the archaeological evidence and C-14 data. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.