An ancient brick from Mesopotamia helped scientists discover a magnetic field anomaly
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Scientists have studied ancient Mesopotamian bricks, which are a source of information about the strengthening and weakening of the planet’s magnetic field. This “magnetic anomaly” arose more than 3 thousand years ago and lasted about 500 years, it was observed from China to the Atlantic Ocean.
Scientists at University College London have conducted research that confirms that the magnetic field was much stronger during the Iron Age. In the course of their work, they used archaeomagnetic methods, which involve gathering information about the strength and direction of the Earth’s magnetic field from ancient objects, writes Arkeonews.
Scientists have found 32 Mesopotamian clay bricks of the III-I millennium BC. Each of them was inscribed with the name of one of the 12 kings who probably ruled at the time these bricks were made.
The brick contained the remains of iron oxide, which preserves the direction and strength of the magnetic field in which it was during manufacture.
| PHOTO: Slemani Museum |
To measure the magnetism of iron oxide, the researchers chipped off fragments weighing two grams from the brick, and then checked them with a magnetometer.
The results showed that the magnetic field during this period was almost twice as strong as a thousand years ago.
Inscriptions can be a more accurate source of information than radiocarbon dating, which can be decades or centuries off, scientists say.
“We often rely on radiocarbon dating as a dating method to gain insight into the chronology of ancient Mesopotamia. However, some of the most common ancient finds, in particular bricks and ceramics, can be difficult to examine because they do not contain organic materials“, says Altavil.
According to scientists, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II from 604 to 562 BC, the strength of the magnetic field almost doubled compared to thousands of years before. This confirms the scientists’ hypothesis that rapid jumps in the intensity of the magnetic field are likely.
Read also: In Norway, archaeologists have found what is probably the oldest ship burial of the Viking Age
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