Archaeomagnetic investigations in Greece and their bearing on geomagnetic secular variation

Archaeomagnetic results are presented from kilns and other heated structures on mainland Greece and on the islands of Crete, Delos, Euboea and Thasos. They span the interval from the mid-third millennium BCE to the mid-second millennium CE. The results obtained are in good agreement with the comprehensive dataset from Bulgaria and reveal secular variation with amplitudes of ∼25° in inclination and ∼30° in declination. The sharp inclination low in the first few centuries CE – now recognized at sites ranging from Crete to Britain – is a robust geomagnetic feature reflecting a static flux pulse due to a magnetic source in the outermost core. Another, much more pronounced, inclination low early in the second millennium BCE is tentatively identified. The emerging Greek secular variation curve provides archaeomagnetic dates for five kilns of hitherto uncertain age.