Electron spin resonance dating of human teeth from the Namu burial ground, Taumako, Solomon Islands

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Abstract
Dentine samples of 50 mg were drilled from the pulp cavity region of human incisors from a series of burials on the Polynesian outlier of Taumako in the Solomon Islands. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra were obtamed, and the height of the peak near g = 2.002 compared with that for an internal ruby standard was used for dating purposes. The 15 archaeological specimens fit into a tight chronological sequence, and the age of the burial ground was dated by radiocarbon to A.D. 153 ‡ 50 years. Where independent stratigraphic information exists on the relative ages of burials, the ESR results are in the correct relative order. Calculated age differences between these burials are as low as 2 years.