An updated catalog of pre-hispanic archaeomagnetic data for north and central Mesoamerica: implications for the regional paleosecular variation reference curve

Despite the immense cultural heritage of Mesoamerica, there is still no reference archaeomagnetic curve available for Central Mexico and adjacent areas. The present research has two simultaneous objectives: to obtain finer characteristics of the geomagnetic field elements over archaeological past, a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Soler Arechalde, Ana Ma., Caballero Miranda, Cecilia, Osete López, María Luisa, López Delgado, Verónica, Goguitchaichvili, Avto, Barrera Huerta, Alan, Urrutia Fucugauchi, Jaime
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
Repositorio:Docta Complutense
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/13603
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/13603
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:52
Archaeomagnetic dating
Geomagnetic field
paleosecular variation
central Mexico
Datación arqueomagnética
Campo geomagnético
Variación paleosecular
Centro de México
Física atmosférica
2501 Ciencias de la Atmósfera
Descripción
Sumario:Despite the immense cultural heritage of Mesoamerica, there is still no reference archaeomagnetic curve available for Central Mexico and adjacent areas. The present research has two simultaneous objectives: to obtain finer characteristics of the geomagnetic field elements over archaeological past, and to build up a reliable regional archaeomagnetic dating tool for the time span of 350 BC. to 1500 AD. For these purposes, 72 previous were compiled and analyzed with 40 new data selected from unpublished reports and theses performed in the paleomagnetic laboratories of the Geophysics Institute of UNAM (CDMX and Morelia). Most of the samples carry thermo-remanent magnetization, 31 cases were unburned stuccos, and 3 mural paintings carrying detrital or pictorial remanent magnetization. A total of 112 archaeomagnetic directions constitute the core of the updated catalogue. Special effort should be paid for to the time intervals of 500 BC.—AD. 200 and AD. 1200–325 where there is a major lack of reliable archaeomagnetic results. The present paleosecular variation curve agrees reasonably well with the fluctuation observed in the SW United States area. The differences in the intervals between AD. 600–720, AD. 850 and 1000 and AD. 1200–1325 may be rather attributed to the lack of reliable data than to local non-dipole field. It is urgent to gather a greater number of high-quality data supported by radiometric ages to improve the reference curve in both regions.