Index

This web site provides the North American archaeological community with a comprehensive guide to archaeomagnetism. It also serves as a portal to the newly established archaeomagnetic (AM) dating lab at the Illinois State Museum. The ISM is the third home for this lab, which began life under the direction of Dr. Jeff Eighmy at the Colorado State University Department of Anthropology. Upon Dr. Eighmy's retirement in 2004, the lab was transferred to his student, Dr. Stacey Lengyel, and it was maintained as a joint effort between the University of Arizona and Statistical Research, Inc, in Tucson. In 2007, Dr. Lengyel and the AM lab relocated to the ISM.

An overview of archaeomagnetism and AM dating is provided on this web site as an educational service to the public and to our inter-disciplinary colleagues. A bibliography of archaeomagnetic and paleomagnetic articles and books is provided as well to assist students and researchers who are interested in learning more about these techniques. Please feel free to use the information and graphics located on this site for class lectures, but please make sure you credit this site as the source of your information. Many of the graphics displayed on this site are copyrighted.

The ISM lab currently conducts AM research in several regions of the Western Hemisphere. The main project we are focusing on concerns the development of the calibrated dating curve for the U.S. Midcontinent, which includes portions of the Midwest and Southeast. Other research includes the temporal extension of the U.S. Southwest dating curve, SWCV2000, to include portions of the Late Archaic and to incorporate historical magnetic data. Likewise, research in the Mid-Atlantic focuses on historical-aged sites and features. Finally, in collaboration with Drs. Jeff Eighmy and Mary Van Buren, we are working to build a dating curve for the Bolivian Andes.