Rehydroxylation rhx dating

Determining the age of ceramic specimens has been a pivotal issue for archaeologists and researchers at museums, as well as antiquities brokers.Not only does it require extensive knowledge of relevant fields but also, it needs the help of scientific methods, such as the commonly used radiocarbon dating and rehydroxylation (RHX) dating.The original firing of the ceramic artifact should set the dating clock to zero by driving all hydroxyls out of the clay chemical structure.To examine whether this assumption holds, especially for pot firings of short duration and low intensity, as those in small-scale traditional settings, we performed thermogravimetric analysis of clay samples of known mineralogy at temperatures and for durations reported from traditional sub-Saharan, American, and South Asian pottery firings.Results demonstrate that in the majority of samples, complete dehydroxylation (DHX) did not occur within, or even beyond, the conditions common in traditional firings.Consequently, between 0.01 and 1.5% of a sample's mass in residual OH may remain after firings analogous to those observed in the ethnographic record.

It depends on the constant rate of rehydroxylation (the slow reintroduction of OH) of clays after they are fired and dehydroxylated (purged of OH) during the production of pots, bricks, or other ceramics.

And the research progress will be shared with the company for providing charged authentication services.

The RHX dating method is developed based on the fact that a ceramic specimen gains weight during the RHX process.

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