Dating

In the northern part of the township our OSL dating test provided very encouraging results, with strong signals being measured and dates detectable from single quartz grains in the sediment. There was no evidence that the basin had contained a tarn for any length of time.

The dates that we obtained show three chronological horizons that tie in with recorded historical events and interpretations of nearby sites. However, the lack of stratigraphy and vertical distribution of the dates indicates that there has been mixing of the sediment in the past. Despite this, the results suggest that this technique could be used with caution in other areas to identify periods of cultivation going back over thousands of years.