APPLICATION OF LUMINESCENCE TECHNIQUES ON YOUNG SEDIMENTS: ESTABLISHING A CHRONOLOGY OF PROVIDENCE ISLAND OCCUPATION

In the early 1800s, Black Americans escaping racial prejudice established a freetown settlement on Providence Island, Liberia. Although official government records do not acknowledge any prior occupations of the island, local oral traditions suggest that indigenous peoples inhabited the area long before the arrival of these settlers. The BAHA (Back to Africa Heritage and Archeology) Liberia initiative seeks to illuminate the historical narratives of Black Americans and their contributions to Liberia’s cultural and historical heritage. Since 2018, archaeological excavations have uncovered ceramics and stoneware artifacts. Our objective is to ascertain whether these artifacts predated the Black American freetown settlement or if they are remnants of a previously overlooked indigenous group.

In 2022, four sediment samples were collected from different geological horizons for optically stimulated luminescence dating. After extracting coarse grains, we conducted multigrain measurements on potassium feldspars and quartz, alongside single-grain measurements on quartz, to identify detectable luminescence signals. Furthermore, pottery fragments excavated from the unit were directly dated using thermoluminescence techniques. In our poster, we will discuss the challenges of dating young sediments and the strategies employed to overcome these obstacles to obtain preliminary ages.

Acknowledgment: RC is supported by the Dr. W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship, and OVPR seed grant award 93214, project 1187279.