Product Description

Optical dating is a rapidly developing technique, used primarily in the dating of sediments deposited in the last 500,000 or more years. As such increasing numbers of Quaternary geologists, physical geographers, archaeologists, and anthropologists are now relying on the results produced. Written by one of the foremost experts on optical dating, this book aims to bring together in a coherent whole the various strands of research that are ongoing in the area. It gives beginners an introduction to the technique as well as acting as a valuable source of up to date references. The text is divided into three parts; main text, technical notes and appendices. In this way the main text is accessible by those researchers with a limited knowledge of physics, with the technical notes providing depth of understanding for those who require it. The first part of the book is concerned with basic notions and an introduction to the standard techniques, as well as several illustrative case histories. It goes on to then discuss the limitations of the technique and factors affecting reliability.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1255142 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 280 pages

Review
"Many techniques have been developed to obtain chronometric dates . . . for various processes and events in earth history. . . . [M]uch recent effort has been devoted to varieties of trapped-charge dating, which depends broadly on the accumulation of incident energy by electrons. Thermoluminescence (TL) and electron spin resonance (ESR) methods have been important in dating heated stone tools and buried tooth enamel, especially in the context of early modern humans and Neanderthals during the last few hundred thousand years. This rather technical book is designed almost as a manual for the extraction and evaluation of dates by the method usually known as OSL (optically stimulated luminescence), an approach similar to TL but applied to sediment grains, usually sand or loessic silt, younger than about half a million years in age. This method has developed slowly since 1985, and much about it is explained in clear . . . fashion by Aitken."--Choice
"If anyone can be considered the father of luminescence dating, it is Martin Aitken. Although new retired from active research, he has provided for the lay reader a thorough review of the most important recent advance in the field; the use of photon-stimulated luminescence for dating Quaternary sediments, or optical dating. This is potentially one of the most powerful dating techniques available to the geoarchaeologist. Aitken wrote this book both for practitioners who lack training in physics and for users. Until geologists and archaeologists gain enough knowledge to evaluate the product, luminescence dating will not get the widespread application it deserves. This book provides that needed background." - James Feathers, Geoarchaeology, Vol. 15, No. 1
"This book is an important and up-to-date reference on a dating method that is playing an increasing role in dating sediments of archeological interest. Aitken has set out to offer an understanding of the basic principles and procedures in optical dating, as well as its scope and limitations. He has succeeded in doing so for those who may have only a minimal background in physics. It would be unwise for anyone in archeology to consider optical dating methods without consulting this book. The book is encyclopedic in coverage and represents the latest word on optical dating, as wider applications become available to archeologists." -- George Rapp, AJA, 2000