Reconstructing dike history using luminescence dating

Dikes are among the most significant ancient human-made earthworks for flood control, land reclamation, and water management for millennia. However, determining the age of dike construction and development based on traditional dating methods (e.g., historical documents, archaeological find materials, and radiocarbon dating), is challenging, due to the paucity of materials and historical records. Luminescence dating may provide an alternative as it uses ubiquitous quartz or feldspar minerals to directly determine the burial age of sediments. In this study, we applied quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and feldspar single-grain post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) dating on two dikes: the Waal dike (near Wolferen-Sprok) in the Netherlands and the Scheldt dike (near Bornem) in Belgium. Our results confirm that luminescence dating provides reliable age estimates, consistent with other independent proxy data such as radiocarbon dating, archaeological artifacts, and historical evidence, and may refine site chronologies. Based on the age results, the history of dike construction and evolution was reconstructed. Additionally, the well-reset OSL signals for dike-related sediments suggest that fresh flood deposits were used for construction. This study highlights the potential of luminescence dating as a robust tool for reconstructing the history of dike construction and understanding ancient engineering.