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AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

About this paper

Title: Abstract for research proposal on Obsidian Hydration Bands dating technique

Research methods report:

These reports help the writer learn experimental procedures and ways research findings are made in the subject. IMRD (Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion) structure is commonly used but research questions are often provided by the lecturer, and the writers focus on methods, results and discussion. They include Experiment Reports, Field Reports and Lab Reports.

Copyright: Gareth Walter

Level:

Third year

Description: This paper is an abstract for a research proposal on the use of Obsidian Hydration Bands as an alternative to radiocarbon dating. The research proposal itself is also included in AWA.

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Abstract for research proposal on Obsidian Hydration Bands dating technique

Abstract for Research Proposal

Radiocarbon dating of archaeological sites in New Zealand is hindered by the presence of a large ‘wiggle’ in the calibration curve during the timeframe within which New Zealand’s prehistory occurs. As such costly radiocarbon dates can often return results with large ranges of error. Obsidian hydration dating (OHD) has been proposed as an alternative due to the extensive use of obsidian in most sites within the country and lower cost, however it has suffered from inaccuracies due to technological constraints. New technology made available has reduced errors in OHD prompting research into its potential elsewhere in the world. This research will look to establish its usefulness in a New Zealand context by collecting obsidian flakes from different sources and sites throughout the country and analysing their hydration using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). Dates obtained by this method will then be compared using statistical tests against secure radiocarbon dates for the sites. If effective it may lead to the adoption of OHD as the norm for site dating in New Zealand and establishment of a database of OHD data for use in all regions across the country reducing the costs of accurately dating prehistoric sites.

Bibliography

Liritzis, Ioannis and Nikolaos Laskaris. 2011. Fifty Years of Obsidian Hydration Dating in Archaeology. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids. 357 (2011): 2011–2023.

Rogers, Alexander K. 2010. Accuracy of Obsidian Hydration Dating Based on Obsidian-Radiocarbon Association and Optical Microscopy. Journal of Archaeological Science. 37 (2010): 3239-3246.

Stevenson, Christopher M., Peter J. Sheppard and Douglas G. Sutton. 1996. Advances in the Hydration Dating of New Zealand Obsidian. Journal of Archaeological Science. 23 (1996): 233-242.