ESR experiments on quaternary calcites and bones for dating purposes

Abstract

A series of experiments and measurements regarding sample preparation, peak intensity estimation, annealing, signal identification, dose determination and dose-rate estimation were carried out in order to explore the technique of ESR for dating speleothemes and bones. In addition, for the first time, the behaviour of peaks at low temperatures (room temperature to 4K) has been studied. Materials from the cave Apidima in Peloponnese, where anthropological remains were discovered, have been used for this study. The results indicate the existence of four peaks, two organic and two radiation induced. Their intensity is increased at 260K and therefore the sensitivity of the technique is enhanced at lower temperatures. The bone samples were found to have absorbed large amounts of uranium from the environment making their dating impossible. A range of ages 20–45·10³ years have been calculated for the travertines of the cave, taking into account all possible factors affecting the age.