Dating development

Engineers at Manchester University have developed a new way of dating archaeological objects that promises to be as significant a technique for dating fired-clay ceramics such as bricks, tiles and pottery, as radiocarbon dating has become for organic materials such as bone or wood.

A team from Manchester and Edinburgh Universities discovered the new technique, and, working with the Museum of London, the team has been able to date brick samples from Roman, medieval and modern periods with remarkable accuracy.

The team has established that its technique can be used to determine the age of objects up to 2,000 years old – but believes it has the potential to be used to date objects around 10,000 years old.

The method relies on the fact that fired-clay ceramic material will start to chemically react with atmospheric moisture as soon as it is removed from the kiln after firing. This continues over its lifetime, causing it to increase in weight – the older the material, the greater the weight gain.