Outlining the Potential of Port-OSL Profiling in Service of Prehistoric to Pre-Modern Archaeological Research

• DOI: 10.5194/egusphere-egu25-8026
• Publication Date: 2025-03-14T21:32:56Z
• Authors: Oren Ackermann; Lotem Robins; Joel Roskin

Portable/pulsed-photon Optically Stimulated Luminescence (pOSL) readers measure luminescence signals from sediments, providing practical and preliminary chronostratigraphic insights for studying late Quaternary depositional systems. Vertical, horizontal, and 2D-matrix port-OSL profiling has proven useful for interpreting sedimentary sections during fieldwork. This method can also target field sampling to prioritize full OSL dating samples, particularly where sediments share similar mineralogy and particle size.Based on approximately 100 archaeological excavations in Israel, spanning prehistoric to pre-modern periods, we briefly review the methodological approaches, utilities, and complexities of port-OSL profiling for geomorphic and chronological research, specifically in archaeological and environmental archaeological contexts.We demonstrate how port-OSL, even in non-uniform sediment and thin units often characterizing archaeological sites, can help detect cryptostratigraphic boundaries, interpret aeolian, fluvial, and slope depositional processes, and attribute them to anthropogenic or natural forcing and relative age. Altogether, port-OSL appears to be a valuable tool for site and landscape excavations spanning short to broad temporal ranges.