Luminescence dating of ceramic building materials: application to the study of early medieval churches in north-western France and south-eastern England

International audienceThis study focuses on early medieval buildings in England and in France, specifically on those displaying the presence of brick in their masonry. The purpose was to determine whether medieval builders reused Roman salvaged building materials or if the bricks used were contemporary to the building under construction. Thus luminescence dating was applied to bricks sampled from 11 standing Anglo-Saxon or Carolingian churches. The luminescence dates show that the two types of practice were in use in both countries. Where contemporary brickmaking appears to be the case, the study also provided a more precise chronology of the buildings