Archaeometry 42 (1)

Recently several anthropological and sociological studies have interpreted technologies as cultural choices that are determined as much by local perceptions and the social context as any material constraints or purely functional criteria. Using the example of ceramic technology ways in which materials science studies can contribute to and benefit from this understanding of technology as a social construct are considered. Although potential difficulties are acknowledged it is nevertheless proposed that both materials scientists and archaeologists have gained much and have much to gain by cooperating together to study ancient technologies, and that the concepts of `technological choices' can facilitate a wider consideration of the factors shaping technological development.

The current debate about the age of the Romanesque frieze of Lincoln Cathedral weighs archaeological evidence against art history. On the one hand, the panels appear to be an integral part of the original Norman structure built by the first bishop (AD 1072--92). However, on grounds of style and artistic comparisons, art historians argue for a later installation during the restoration of AD 1141--46. In order to determine when panels were stabilised in the cathedral, a new method measuring their degree of re-magnetisation by the earth's magnetic field since they were quarried was utilised. The longer that masonry remains stabilised in a given orientation, the greater its viscous remagnetisation. Viscous remanent magnetisation dating has previously been successful with this particular type of limestone masonry. Results lend support to the view that the panels were installed in the early 1140s.