T04_P07

Recent Results from the Office of Archaeological Studies Plasma Oxidation Laboratory, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Cox J¹, Rowe M¹, Blinman E¹, Jones S¹, Welte C^2,3

¹Office Of Archaeological Studies, Center for New Mexico Archaeology, Santa Fe, United States, ²Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zűrich, HPK, H29, Otto-Stern-Weg 5, CH-8093 , Zűrich, Switzerland, ³Geological Institute, ETH Zürich, NO, Sonneggstrasse 5, CH-8092 , Zűrich, Switzerland

The plasma technique was originally developed in conjunction with dating rock art by Marvin Rowe at Texas A&M University. After retiring, Dr. Rowe moved to Santa Fe, NM where he helped establish our current plasma oxidation laboratory in 2013. Advantages of the plasma technique include the ability to produce very small samples for processing (20-100 µg carbon), no necessity for removal of carbonates or oxalates due to operational temperatures usually below 50°C, virtually non-destructive sampling, removing minute amounts of surface carbon and the ability to collect multiple dates from a single sample. In recent years, the Plasma Oxidation Laboratory has processed a wide variety of materials. In addition to using the plasma with standards, other materials include an alleged Picasso painting, multi-layered extractions of soot, a probable Lewis and Clark iron axe head, Egyptian and Pecos River mummies and of course, rock art.