Dating stone arrangements using luminescence: More data from the northern Great Plains

Abstract

Luminescence dating of rocks and sediments associated with various anthropogenic rock arrangements has the potential to provide age information for these hard-to-date features. This study applies infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) to sediments under rocks and to the rocks themselves from tipi rings and other features from the northern Plains. Dates are provided for 27 sediment and 5 rock samples from 7 archaeological sites in Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan, ranging in age from 0.20 to 4.35 ka. Most of the ages are consistent with one another and with other dating evidence but some discrepancies show the complexity involved in this kind of dating.