REHYDROXYLATION (RDX) DATING OF POTTERY AND DAGA ARTEFACTS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE EMAKHOSINI AND BABANANGO PLATEAU, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

Non-destructive sampling of small body sherds of pottery and small fragments of daga from burned floors, hearths, and iron working furnaces. Each sample is weighed, heated to remove all water (dehydrated) and subjected to hydroxylation under controlled conditions to estimate the time it takes to accumulate water in the porous fabric of the pottery and daga. That calculation provides the model to estimate the time that has passed since the pottery and daga was last subjected to heat.