First experimental study of rock-magnetic indicators of archaeological paleo-hearths on the example of Kyrgyzstan loess | Geosphere Research. 2021. № 1. DOI: 10.17223/25421379/18/9_

First experimental study of rock-magnetic indicators of archaeological paleo-hearths on the example of Kyrgyzstan loess

The prospects of application of the rock-magnetic method for characterizing the degree of impact of anthropogenic fires on the enclosing substrate and the possibilities of reconstructing palaeohearth features for archeological purposes are discussed. For the first time, experimental modeling of fireplaces in loess substrate was carried out using four types of fuel: dry bone, wood, winterfat (shrub) and dried dung. Loess was chosen as the initial substrate due to its wide distribution in the Palaeolithic sites of Central Asia. Rock-magnetic methods were used to study three types of samples from each experimental fire: the original substrate (loess), heated loess, and ash samples. It was found that the impact of the fire leads to an increase of the magnetic susceptibility values, saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM) and anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM) of loess deposits by 2-4 times. Changes in the magnetic properties of loess during heating are associated with the following changes in iron-containing minerals: transformation of iron silicates and hydroxides (lepidocrocite, goethite) into iron oxides (maghemite, hematite), transformation of pedogenic maghemite to hematite, and reduction of hematite to magnetite. All ash samples show high values of magnetic susceptibility, SIRM and ARM in comparison with unburned loess due to high concentrations of ultrafine ferrimagnetic particles in the SP and SP / SD states (mainly magnetite), making ash deposits reliable rock-magnetic identifiers of hearths. The SIRM and ARM values of ashes exceed those for loesses on average by 2-3 times, the magnetic susceptibility exceeds by 2-4 times, and the frequency dependence of the magnetic susceptibility (xf_B) is 2 % higher on average. The ash samples in our study did not show a significant difference between themselves and dependence from the type of fuel. The results indicate stronger magnetic properties of ash layers and burnt loess in comparison with the host loess sediment, which defines ash and burnt loess as reliable rock-magnetic markers of palaeohearths at archaeological sites in Central Asia. Furthermore, even in the case of the loss of ash layers (direct evidence of fire) as a result of erosion, traces of palaeohearth can be detected by the increased rock-magnetic parameters values of the thermally altered loess, which served as the basis of the ancient fire.

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Keywords

rock-magnetism, magnetic susceptibility, archaeology, palaeohearths

Authors

Name	Organization	E-mail
Kulakova Ekaterina P.	Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth RAS	ek.kula@yandex.ru
Dedov Igor E.	Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography Siberian Branch RAS	11.dedov.com@gmail.com
Meshcheriakova Olga A.	Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth RAS	oliya@ifz.ru
Kurbanov Redzhep N.	Lomonosov Moscow State University; Institute of Geography RAS	roger.kurbanov@gmail.com

Всего: 4

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