Luminescence Dating Laboratory

As of January 1, 2021 the themoluminesecence lab is no longer accepting new work. Existing projects will be completed. Contact Prof. Jim Feathers at jimf@uw.edu if you have any questions related to ongoing work. This laboratory provides dating service for ceramics, lithics, and sediments using optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) and thermoluminescence (TL). This allows researchers to date materials that cannot be dated using other techniques (e.g., lack of suitable organic remains for radiocarbon dating). Additionally, since it is capable of directly dating cultural materials such as ceramics, the bridging arguments between dating events and target events are minimized. The equipment is also capable of dating sediments in order to elucidate depositional sequences at archaeological sites. 

Example Research: Students have used this lab for a variety of purposes, ranging from dating ceramics from Turkey, dating building sequences at Chavin de Huantar in Peru, to dating depositional sequences of canals in Peru.

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