The Luminescent Dating of the Remains Unearthed in the Archaeological Excavations of the Ancient City of Harran

Abstract

The luminescence dating technique is widely used to determine the date when inorganic materials such as soil and  brick were last exposed to heat or light. In this study, the construction dates of the structures unearthed in the archaeological excavations in Harran were determined. For this purpose, the radiation energy that the materials have accumulated under the ground for years has been converted into luminescence photons with the OSL dating                 system. The counts of these photons were converted to paleodoses following the SAR protocol. Soil samples gave  paleodose values well above the archaeological age. In addition, the expected paleodose values for  two of the brick  samples were found. On the other hand, the environmental annual dose rate values for the same materials were found to be 2.67 mGy.Year^-1 on average. Environmental dose rate values are at acceptable radioactivity levels. It was  determined that the dated structures were built in the middle of the 11th century at the earliest.