GP002-0008
New Archaeomagnetic Directional Results from Cyprus: Insights on the Levantine Geomagnetic Field Anomaly

Monday, 14 December 2020
Poster
Evdokia Tema1,2, Ian G Hedley3,4, F. Javier Pavón-Carrasco5,6, Enzo Ferrara7, Pamela Gaber8, Despo Pilides9, Michael Toumazou10, Yiannis Violaris9, Jennifer Webb11 and David Frankel11, (1)Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Torino, Italy, (2)Alpine Palaeomagnetic Laboratory ALP-CIMaN, Peveragno, Italy, (3)Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland, (4)Laboratoire de Paléomagnétisme, Musée de Préhistoire des gorges du Verdon, Quinson, France, (5)Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, (6)Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain, (7)Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica, Torino, Italy, (8)Lycoming College, Archaeology Program, Williamsport, United States, (9)Department of Antiquities, Nicosia, Cyprus, (10)Davidson College, Department of Classics, North Carolina, United States, (11)La Trobe University, Department of Archaeology and History, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract:
We present ten new archaeomagnetic directions from ovens and hearths excavated at five archaeological sites in Cyprus. The age of the baked clay structures ranges from 2000 BCE to 1400 CE. The magnetic mineralogy was determined through Isothermal Remanent Magnetization acquisition curves, hysteresis loops and thermomagnetic curves, and points to the presence of a magnetite-type mineral as the main magnetic carrier. All directions are well defined and can be added to the literature data from Cyprus and the Middle East. Quality selection criteria were applied to assemble the most reliable data located within a circular area of 600 km from Lefkosia (Nicosia) and a new time-continuous directional Secular Variation (SV) curve was computed for the last four millennia. This new directional curve for the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East shows several periods characterized by abrupt directional changes while a maximum change in curvature is clearly observed around 900 BCE. It confirms the hypothesis that during the Levantine Iron Age Anomaly, apart from the extreme intensity values, the geomagnetic field was characterized by steep inclinations and important directional change.
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