Study reveals Mesopotamian bricks captured ancient magnetic field anomaly

A new study done by University College London researchers has revealed that ancient bricks inscribed with the names of Mesopotamian kings apparently captured a mysterious blip in Earth's magnetic field.

In the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday (Dec 18), scientists have revealed crucial insights while studying the exceptional strength of the magnetic field in West Asia around 3,000 years ago.

Earth's magnetic field extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind. It is also known as the geomagnetic field. It creates a region known as the magnetosphere.

Archaeologist Mark Altaweel of University College London explained, "We often depend on dating methods such as radiocarbon dates to get a sense of chronology in ancient Mesopotamia."

"However, some of the most common cultural remains, such as bricks and ceramics, cannot typically be easily dated because they don't contain organic material. This work now helps create an important dating baseline that allows others to benefit from absolute dating using archaeomagnetism," Altaweel added.

Experts have established that life on Earth would be impossible without the magnetic field, which protects us from the relentless assault of charged particles generated by the sun.

The latest study describes how changes in the Earth's magnetic field are imprinted on iron oxide grains within ancient clay bricks.

The study revealed how scientists were able to reconstruct these changes based on the names of the kings etched on the bricks.

Notably, temporary weak patches have been recorded in the Earth's magnetic field, which is not consistent in time or space.

The magnetic field's strength waxes and wanes over time and it causes the location of Earth's magnetic north and south poles to gradually shift.

Some expert-backed reports have mentioned that the field even completely flips locations every 300,000 years.

This is significant if you use a compass or if you are one of the many animals whose internal compasses utilise the magnetic field to navigate.