Case study of the Bulgarian Neolithic archaeological site of Piperkov Chiflik and its archaeomagnetic dating

Baked materials from the Bulgarian Neolithic site of Piperkov Chiflik were investigated and dated archaeomagnetically. Extensive rock-magnetic experiments, including identification of the dominant ferromagnetic minerals present, their domain state and mineralogical alterations during laboratory treatments, have been carried out in order to examine the magnetic properties of the studied materials. These experiments provide valuable information about suitability of the materials for reliable archaeomagnetic determinations. The most probable period of last use of the studied structure is obtained utilizing Bulgarian reference curves of the geomagnetic secular variation in the corresponding time interval. The archaeomagnetic dating intervals obtained are 5749BC-5682BC (68% probability) or 5767BC-5492BC (95% probability). We consider the first dating interval as better constrained. Both intervals relate the site to the Bulgarian Early Neolithic, which is in agreement with the archaeological evidence, but suggests an earlier time than expected. The study confirms the importance of archaeomagnetism as a valuable dating tool.