An updated catalogue of Greek archaeomagnetic data for the last 4500 years and a directional secular variation curve

Emmanuelle de Marco (1) , Evdokia Tema (2) , Philippe Lanos (3) , Despina Kondopoulou (4)

1 Department of Geophysics
2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra [Torino]
3 GR - Géosciences Rennes
4 School of Geology [Thessaloniki]

We present an updated compilation of Greek directional archaeomagnetic data for the last 4.5 millennia. The data set comprises 89 directions from archaeological artefacts and volcanic rocks. Most of the data come from the Late Bronze Age (1700-1400 BC) that is the flourishing period of the Minoan civilization in Crete, while parts of the classical (480-323 BC), Hellenistic (32-31 BC) and Roman (146 BC-330 AD) periods are also well covered. The dataset has been analysed using the Bayesian approach for curve building and a directional secular variation (SV) curve for Greece is proposed. Comparisons with regional and global model predictions show a general agreement even though some discrepancies are observed for some time intervals. The new curves together with the previously published intensity SV curve for Greece, also using the Bayesian approach, form a homogeneous set and enrich our knowledge of the full geomagnetic field vector variation in Greece during the last millennia.

Keywords: archaeomagnetism; secular variation; Greece

Domains: Earth Sciences; Archaeology and Prehistory

Emmanuelle de Marco, Evdokia Tema, Philippe Lanos, Despina Kondopoulou. An updated catalogue of Greek archaeomagnetic data for the last 4500 years and a directional secular variation curve. Studia Geophysica et Geodaetica, 2014, 58 (1), pp.121-147. ⟨10.1007/s11200-013-0910-y⟩. ⟨insu-00946133⟩