Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Tephrochronology

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definitions

Tephra: Unconsolidated pyroclastic material explosively ejected during a volcanic eruption. Tephra includes blocks (>32 mm), lapilli (4–32 mm), and ash (<4 mm). Tephra was often called tuff in the early archaeological literature.

Volcanic ash: The finest and most voluminous tephra fraction composed mostly of shards of glass formed by the rapid cooling and explosive breakup of magma during an eruption.

Tephrochronology: The dating of sequences according to the age of layers of tephra preserved within.

Tephrostratigraphy: The use of volcanic ash layers as relative dating horizons. Tephra layers from a single eruption event can be used to correlate sequences precisely that may be some distance apart.

Cryptotephra: Tephra within a sequence that is not visible to the naked eye and may be detected only using instrumental core scanning techniques or by laboratory processing of sediments.

Introduction

Tephra is the debris ejected into the atmosphere during explosive volcanic...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 549.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Albert, P. G., Hardiman, M., Keller, J., Tomlinson, E. L., Smith, V. C., Bourne, A. J., Wulf, S., Zanchetta, G., Sulpizio, R., Müller, U. C., Pross, J., Ottolini, L., Matthews, I. P., Blockley, S. P. E., and Menzies, M. A., 2015. Revisiting the Y-3 tephrostratigraphic marker: a new diagnostic glass geochemistry, age estimate, and details on its climatostratigraphical context. Quaternary Science Reviews, 118, 105–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baales, M., Jöris, O., Street, M., Bittmann, F., Weninger, B., and Wiethold, J., 2002. Impact of the Late Glacial eruption of the Laacher See Volcano, Central Rhineland, Germany. Quaternary Research, 53(3), 273–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, G. N., and Woodward, J. C., 1997. The Klithi deposits: sedimentology, stratigraphy and chronology. In Bailey, G. N. (ed.), Klithi: Palaeolithic Settlement and Quaternary Landscapes in Northwest Greece. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. Excavation and Intra-Site Analysis at Klithi, Vol. 1, pp. 61–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blockley, S. P. E., Pyne-O’Donnell, S. D. F., Lowe, J. J., Matthews, I. P., Stone, A., Pollard, A. M., Turney, C. S. M., and Molyneux, E. G., 2005. A new and less destructive laboratory procedure for the physical separation of distal glass tephra shards from sediments. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(16–17), 1952–1960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blockley, S. P. E., Bronk Ramsey, C., and Pyle, D. M., 2008. Improved age modelling and high-precision age estimates of late Quaternary tephras, for accurate palaeoclimate reconstruction. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 177(1), 251–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brauer, A., Endres, C., and Negendank, J. F. W., 1999. Lateglacial calendar year chronology based on annually laminated sediments from Lake Meerfelder Maar, Germany. Quaternary International, 61(1), 17–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buck, C. E., Higham, T. F. G., and Lowe, D. J., 2003. Bayesian tools for tephrochronology. The Holocene, 13(5), 639–647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clift, P., and Blusztajn, J., 1999. The trace-element characteristics of Aegean and Aeolian volcanic arc marine tephra. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 92(3–4), 321–347.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, S. M., Branch, N. P., Lowe, J. J., and Turney, C. S. M., 2002. Towards a European tephrochronological framework for termination 1 and the early Holocene. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences A, 360(1793), 767–802.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deino, A. L., and McBrearty, S., 2002. 40Ar/39Ar dating of the Kapthurin Formation, Baringo, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution, 42(1–2), 185–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Douka, K., Higham, T., and Sinitsyn, A., 2010. The influence of pretreatment chemistry on the radiocarbon dating of Campanian Ignimbrite-aged charcoal from Kostenki 14 (Russia). Quaternary Research, 73(3), 583–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Douka, K., Jacobs, Z., Lane, C., Grün, R., Farr, L., Hunt, C., Inglis, R. H., Reynolds, T., Albert, P., Aubert, M., Cullen, V., Hill, E., Kinsley, L., Roberts, R. G., Tomlinson, E. L., Wulf, S., and Barker, G., 2014. The chronostratigraphy of the Haua Fteah cave (Cyrenaica, northeast Libya). Journal of Human Evolution, 66, 39–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugmore, A., 1989. Icelandic volcanic ash in Scotland. Scottish Geographical Magazine, 105(3), 168–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugmore, A. J., 1991. Tephrochronology and UK archaeology. In Budd, P., Chapman, C., Jackson, C., Janaway, R., and Ottoway, B. (eds.), Archaeological Science: Proceedings of a Conference on the Application of Scientific Techniques to Archaeology, Bradford, September 1989. Oxford: Oxbow Books. Oxbow Monograph, Vol. 9, pp. 242–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrand, W. R., 2000. Depositional History of Franchthi Cave: Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Chronology. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Excavations at Franchthi Cave, Greece, fasc. 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedrich, W. L., Kromer, B., Friedrich, M., Heinemeier, J., Pfeiffer, T., and Talamo, S., 2006. Santorini eruption radiocarbon dated to 1627–1600 BC. Science, 312(5773), 548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gehrels, M. J., Newnham, R. M., Lowe, D. J., Wynne, S., Hazell, Z. J., and Caseldine, C., 2008. Towards rapid assay of cryptotephra in peat cores: review and evaluation of various methods. Quaternary International, 178(1), 68–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Housley, R. A., Lane, C. S., Cullen, V. L., Weber, M.-J., Riede, F., Gamble, C. S., and Brock, F., 2012. Icelandic volcanic ash from the Late-glacial open-air archaeological site of Ahrenshöft LA 58 D, North Germany. Journal of Archaeological Science, 39(3), 708–716.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katoh, S., Nagaoka, S., WoldeGabriel, G., Renne, P., Snow, M. G., Beyene, Y., and Suwa, G., 2000. Chronostratigraphy and correlation of the Plio-Pleistocene tephra layers of the Konso Formation, southern Main Ethiopian Rift, Ethiopia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 19(13), 1305–1317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuehn, S. C., Froese, D. G., and Shane, P. A. R., 2011. The INTAV intercomparison of electron-beam microanalysis of glass by tephrochronology laboratories: results and recommendations. Quaternary International, 246(1–2), 19–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kylander, M. E., Lind, E. M., Wastegård, S., and Löwemark, L., 2012. Recommendations for using XRF core scanning as a tool in tephrochronology. The Holocene, 22(3), 371–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, C. S., Blockley, S. P. E., Mangerud, J., Smith, V. C., Lohne, Ø. S., Tomlinson, E. L., Matthews, I. P., and Lotter, A. F., 2012. Was the 12.1 ka Icelandic Vedde Ash one of a kind? Quaternary Science Reviews, 33, 87–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lane, C. S., Cullen, V. L., White, D., Bramham-Law, C. W. F., and Smith, V. C., 2014. Cryptotephra as a dating and correlation tool in archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science, 42, 42–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S., Bronk Ramsey, C., and Hardiman, M., 2013. Modeling the age of the Cape Riva (Y-2) tephra. Radiocarbon, 55(2–3), 741–747.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, D. J., and Hunt, J. B., 2001. A summary of terminology used in tephra-related studies. In Juvigné, E. H., and Raynal, J.-P. (eds.), Tephras: chronologie, archéologie: actes du colloque, à Brives-Charensac (Haute-Loire), du 28 au 29 août 1998. Goudet: Centre de documentation et de recherches archéologiques départemental d’Auvergne. Les Dossiers de l’Archéo-Logis, Vol. 1, pp. 17–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, J., Barton, N., Blockley, S., Bronk Ramsey, C., Cullen, V. L., Davies, W., Gamble, C., Grant, K., Hardiman, M., Housley, R., Lane, C. S., Lee, S., Lewis, M., MacLeod, A., Menzies, M., Müller, W., Pollard, M., Price, C., Roberts, A. P., Rohling, E. J., Satow, C., Smith, V. C., Stringer, C. B., Tomlinson, E. L., White, D., Albert, P., Arienzo, I., Barker, G., Borić, D., Carandente, A., Civetta, L., Ferrier, C., Guadelli, J.-L., Karkanas, P., Koumouzelis, M., Müller, U. C., Orsi, G., Pross, J., Rosi, M., Shalamanov-Korobar, L., Sirakov, N., and Tzedakis, P. C., 2012. Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(34), 13532–13537.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manning, S. W., Bronk Ramsey, C., Kutschera, W., Higham, T., Kromer, B., Steier, P., and Wild, E. M., 2006. Chronology for the Aegean Late Bronze Age 1700–1400 B.C. Science, 312(5773), 565–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mark, D. F., Petraglia, M., Smith, V. C., Morgan, L. E., Barfod, D. N., Ellis, B. S., Pearce, N. J., Pal, J. N., and Korisettar, R., 2014. A high-precision 40Ar/39Ar age for the Young Toba Tuff and dating of ultra-distal tephra: forcing of quaternary climate and implications for hominin occupation of India. Quaternary Geochronology, 21, 90–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, L. E., and Renne, P. R., 2008. Diachronous dawn of Africa’s Middle Stone Age: new 40Ar/39Ar ages from the Ethiopian Rift. Geology, 36(12), 967–970.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morley, M. W., and Woodward, J. C., 2011. The Campanian Ignimbrite (Y5) tephra at Crvena Stijena Rockshelter, Montenegro. Quaternary Research, 75(3), 683–696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, N. J. G., Denton, J. S., Perkins, W. T., Westgate, J. A., and Alloway, B. V., 2007. Correlation and characterisation of individual glass shards from tephra deposits using trace element laser ablation ICP-MS analyses: current status and future potential. Journal of Quaternary Science, 22(7), 721–736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petraglia, M., Korisettar, R., Boivin, N., Clarkson, C., Ditchfield, P., Jones, S., Koshy, J., Lahr, M. M., Oppenheimer, C., Pyle, D., Roberts, R., Schwenninger, J.-L., Arnold, L., and White, K., 2007. Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the Indian subcontinent before and after the Toba super-eruption. Science, 317(5834), 114–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plunkett, G., 2009. Land-use patterns and cultural change in the Middle to Late Bronze Age in Ireland: inferences from pollen records. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 18(4), 273–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollard, A. M., Blockley, S. P. E., and Ward, K. R., 2003. Chemical alteration of tephra in the depositional environment: theoretical stability modelling. Journal of Quaternary Science, 18(5), 385–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyle, D. M., Ricketts, G. D., Margari, V., van Andel, T. H., Sinitsyn, A. A., Praslov, N. D., and Lisitsyn, S., 2006. Wide dispersal and deposition of distal tephra during the Pleistocene ‘Campanian Ignimbrite/Y5’ eruption, Italy. Quaternary Science Reviews, 25(21–22), 2713–2728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, S. O., Andersen, K. K., Svensson, A. M., Steffensen, J. P., Vinther, B. M., Clausen, H. B., Siggaard-Andersen, M.-L., Johnsen, S. J., Larsen, L. B., Dahl-Jensen, D., Bigler, M., Röthlisberger, R., Fischer, H., Goto-Azuma, K., Hansson, M. E., and Ruth, U., 2006. A new Greenland ice core chronology for the last glacial termination. Journal of Geophysical Research, D: Atmospheres, 111(D6), D06102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riede, F., 2008. The Laacher See-eruption (12,920 BP) and material culture change at the end of the Allerød in Northern Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35(3), 591–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarna-Wojcicki, A. M., Meyer, C. E., Roth, P. H., and Brown, F. H., 1985. Ages of tuff beds at East African early hominid sites and sediments in the Gulf of Aden. Nature, 313(6000), 306–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shane, P., Alloway, B., Black, T., and Westgate, J., 1996. Isothermal plateau fission-track ages of tephra beds in an early-middle Pleistocene marine and terrestrial sequence, Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand. Quaternary International, 34–36, 49–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, V. C., Shane, P., and Nairn, I. A., 2005. Trends in rhyolite geochemistry, mineralogy, and magma storage during the last 50 kyr at Okataina and Taupo volcanic centres, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 148(3–4), 372–406.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, V. C., Pearce, N. J. G., Matthews, N. E., Westgate, J. A., Petraglia, M. D., Haslam, M., Lane, C. S., Korisettar, R., and Pal, J. N., 2011. Geochemical fingerprinting of the widespread Toba tephra using biotite compositions. Quaternary International, 246(1–2), 97–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Storey, M., Roberts, R. G., and Saidin, M., 2012. Astronomically calibrated 40Ar/39Ar age for the Toba supereruption and global synchronization of late Quaternary records. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(46), 18684–18688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thorarinsson, S., 1954. The tephra-fall from Hekla on March 29th 1947. In Einarsson, T., Kjartansson, G., and Thorarinsson, S. (eds.), The Eruption of Hekla 1947–48. Reykjavik: Vísindafélag Íslendinga and the Museum of Natural History, Reykjavík, Vol. 2. no. 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, E. L., Thordarson, T., Müller, W., Thirlwall, M., and Menzies, M. A., 2010. Microanalysis of tephra by LA-ICP-MS – strategies, advantages and limitations assessed using the Thorsmörk ignimbrite (Southern Iceland). Chemical Geology, 279(3–4), 73–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tryon, C. A., and McBrearty, S., 2006. Tephrostratigraphy of the Bedded Tuff Member (Kapthurin Formation, Kenya) and the nature of archaeological change in the later Middle Pleistocene. Quaternary Research, 65(3), 492–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turney, C. S. M., 1998. Extraction of rhyolitic component of Vedde microtephra from minerogenic lake sediments. Journal of Paleolimnology, 19(2), 199–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turney, C. S. M., Harkness, D. D., and Lowe, J. J., 1997. The use of microtephra horizons to correlate Late-glacial lake sediment successions in Scotland. Journal of Quaternary Science, 12(6), 525–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turney, C. S. M., Lowe, J. J., Davies, S. M., Hall, V., Lowe, D. J., Wastegård, S., Hoek, W. Z., and Alloway, B., 2004. Tephrochronology of last termination sequences in Europe: a protocol for improved analytical precision and robust correlation procedures (a joint SCOTAV-INTIMATE proposal). Journal of Quaternary Science, 19(2), 111–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitaliano, C. J., Taylor, S. R., Farrand, W. R., and Jacobsen, T. W., 1981. Tephra layer in Franchthi Cave, Peleponnesos, Greece. In Self, S., and Sparks, R. S. J. (eds.), Tephra Studies: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute “Tephra Studies as a Tool in Quaternary Research,” Held in Laugarvatn and Reykjavîk, Iceland, June 18–29, 1980. Dordrecht: D. Reidel. NATO Advanced Study Institutes, Series C, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Vol. 75, pp. 373–379.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • WoldeGabriel, G., Hart, W. K., Katoh, S., Beyene, Y., and Suwa, G., 2005. Correlation of Plio-Pleistocene tephra in Ethiopian and Kenyan rift basins: temporal calibration of geological features and hominid fossil records. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 147(1–2), 81–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography, School of Environment, Education and Development, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Christine Lane & Jamie Woodward

Authors
  1. Christine Lane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jamie Woodward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christine Lane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Allan S. Gilbert

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this entry

Cite this entry

Lane, C., Woodward, J. (2017). Tephrochronology. In: Gilbert, A.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4409-0_185

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation