Thermoluminescence dating
Also called: TL dating · Topic: Studying Indian History: Sources, Dating and Historiography · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Thermoluminescence dating, or TL dating, finds the age of objects made of fired clay, such as pottery, bricks and terracotta. Over time, these objects slowly store up energy from natural radiation in the soil. When the sample is heated in a laboratory, it gives off this stored energy as light. The amount of light shows how long ago the object was last fired. This is useful because pottery survives at almost every site, even where no organic material is left.
Example
At an excavated settlement with no bones or charcoal to test, archaeologists can heat a sample of potsherds (broken pieces of pots) in a laboratory to estimate when the pots were fired.
Don't confuse with
- Radiocarbon dating: it works only on things that were once alive, such as bone, wood, charcoal or grain. TL dating works on fired clay and some heated stone.