DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1319091.

Abstract. This study reports the results of the geomagnetic field intensity retrieved from ceramic fragments of two Colombian archaeological sites: La Sonrisa (Honda, Tolima) and La Salada (Puerto Bogotá, Cundinamarca). Ten pottery fragments were analyzed to characterize the magnetic mineralogy using the susceptibility vs. temperature curves. Archaeointensities were determined by double-heating Thellier-type experiments, corrected for cooling rates and anisotropy effects. Data from 60 specimens were associated with archaeological contexts through available calibrated data using the OxCal v4.2.4 program of Ramsey and Lee (2013), the atmospheric curve IntCal13 (Reimer et al. 2013), and compared against predictions from geomagnetic models. The results may be considered as pioneering for the region because they throw new light onto two pre-Columbian episodes and the contact with the first European settlers. It is intended that the data contribute to improving an alternative tool – archaeomagnetic dating – that facilitates the direct dating of the area considered in the present study.

Keywords: Archaeomagnetism, Pre-Hispanic pottery, Colombia.

Reference:

Berkovich, C. S., A. Goguitchaichvili, G. A. Peña León, J. Morales. 2017.
Primeros resultados de arqueointensidades de Colombia: sitios prehispánicos en el valle del río Magdalena (Honda-Tolima y Puerto Bogotá-Cundinamarca). Arqueología Iberoamericana 33: 10-17. http://purl.org/aia/332.

Publication date: February 7, 2017.