Intensity and direction of the geomagnetic field on 24 August 1179 measured at Vadum Iacob (Ateret) Crusader fortress, northern Israel
Abstract
Segal, Y., Marco, S., Ellenblum, R. 2003. Intensity and direction of the geomagnetic field on 24 August 1179 measured at Vadum Iacob (Ateret) Crusader fortress, northern Israel. Isr. J. Earth. Sci. 52: 203–208. Paleomagnetic tests on two archaeological structures from the Crusader fortress Vadum Iacob (Ateret) reveal the use of these structures as an oven and a lime kiln. These fireplaces enable determination of the local direction and intensity of the geomagnetic field on 24 August 1179, when its construction was terminated by the Arab conquest. Stable field directions of the natural remanent magnetization were obtained in 31 specimens from a total of 16 building stones taken from the two archeological structures in the site. We consider the results as a negative stability test, indicating that a temperature above the Curie temperature erased the original in situ magnetization of each building stone when the stones were part of the fireplaces, and a new magnetization was acquired on the day the fire was extinguished. The mean magnetic directions of the two installations are statistically indistinguishable 013o/48o; α 95 = 6.5° and 017o/58o ; α 95 = 9.1o. The paleointensity of the Earth’s magnetic field obtained by the original Thellier double-heating method from 8 basalt specimens from the lime oven is 72 ± 7 μT, about 1.8 times the current field. We demonstrate how the geophysical study of paleomagnetism helped resolve an archaeological question and how the archaeological and historical study helped resolve the dating of a geophysical feature.
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In the archaeological research of the Levant, the growing body of archaeomagnetic data enables an increasingly reliable dating method.
“In the archaeological research of the Levant, the growing body of archaeomagnetic data [19–21] enables an increasingly reliable dating method [22–24].”
From The Earth’s magnetic field in Jerusalem during the Babylonian destruction: A unique reference for field behavior and an anchor for archaeomagnetic dating (2020) · cites this paper as [19]
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Archaeological geophysics in Israel: past, present and future
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“This dating tool is based on the reconstruction of the direction and/or intensity of the ancient field in the Levant in well-dated contexts (e.g., Ben-Yosef et al. 2009; Segal et al. 2003) and comparing the resulting curve with measurements from finds which are not well-dated.”
Application of Potential Geophysical Fields at Archaeological Sites in Israel: An Introduction
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Application of Potential Geophysical Fields at Archaeological Sites in Israel: An Introduction
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- Authors
- Segal, Y., Marco, S., & Ellenblumb, R.
- Affiliations
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- ORCID
- Marco, Shmuel
- Venue
- Israel Journal of Earth Sciences
- Publisher
- Laser Pages Publishing Ltd.
- Published
- 2003-03-01
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 203-208
- ISSN
- 0021-2164 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2028253059
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Israel Journal of Earth Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Ocean Engineering › Geophysical Methods and Applications
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis
- Keywords
- geomagnetic field intensity, geomagnetic field direction, paleointensity, paleomagnetism, natural remanent magnetization, fireplaces, lime kiln, ovens, building stone, Curie temperature, basalt, Crusader period
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