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The Role of Resolution and Sample Preparation in Hydration Rim Measurement: Implications for Experimentally Determined Hydration Rates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Barry E. Scheetz  and
Christopher M. Stevenson
Barry E. Scheetz
Affiliation:
Materials Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
Christopher M. Stevenson
Affiliation:
Archaeological and Historical Consultants, Inc., Centre Hall, PA 16828
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Abstract

The role of the theoretical limit of resolution of optical microscopes is discussed in relation to obsidian rim age-date determinations. The resolution of the optics is shown to contribute an error of ± 20 percent. The error analysis identified the determination of the activation energy as the single step in the dating process that introduces the largest error.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 110 - 117
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1988

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