Using DosiVox to Reconstruct Radiation Transport through Complex Archaeological Environments

Abstract

The DosiVox programme is used to reconstruct radiation transport in complex depositional environments. Using two archaeological case studies from ancient Egypt, the burial environments for a selection of ceramic vessels are reconstructed using the DosiVox programme, allowing the simulation of the emission and transport of radiation throughout these burial environments. From this simulation we can extract the external dose rate of the archaeological samples, a measurement necessary for determine a luminescence age. We describe in detail how DosiVox can be used to best advantage at sites with complex depositional histories and highlight that DosiVox is a valuable tool in luminescence dating. This work illustrates that DosiVox is, at present, unparalleled in reconstructing a more accurate and detailed external gamma dose rate which can significantly improve upon simplistic scaled geometric models.