Different materials vary considerably in their suitability for the technique, depending on several factors.
Subsequent irradiation, for example if an x-ray is taken, can affect accuracy, as will the "annual dose" of radiation a buried object has received from the surrounding soil.
A site at Tofts Ness, Sanday was settled from the Neolithic but was abandoned in the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age for approximately 1000 years before being resettled in the late Bronze Age and then permanently abandoned in the Iron Age.
Sand layers lying above the late Neolithic soils have been dated by OSL to about 4000 BP and this correlates well with increased sand blow activity and abandonment of the World Heritage site of Skara Brae, also in the Orkney Islands.
Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information.Because only a limited number of the quartz samples were suitable for OSL dating, IRSL dating of the K-feldspar represents an alternative to OSL quartz dating., (1) Department of Geography and Topgraphic Science, Univ of Glasgow, East Quadrangle, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom, [email protected], (2) Scottish Universities Environmental Rsch Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, United Kingdom, (3) Department of Archaeology, Univ of Glasgow, Gregory Building, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom OSL dating has successfully dated periods of wind blown sand activity at archaeological sites in the Orkney Islands, Scotland which conform to periods of Holocene climate deterioration elsewhere.Thermoluminescence emits a weak light signal that is proportional to the radiation dose absorbed by the material. The technique has wide application, and is relatively cheap at some US0–700 per object; ideally a number of samples are tested. The destruction of a relatively significant amount of sample material is necessary, which can be a limitation in the case of artworks.The heating must have taken the object above 500° C, which covers most ceramics, although very high-fired porcelain creates other difficulties.