By Jason D. Moser This summer during the height of the
University of South Florida/Ohio State University field school
at Crystal River Archaeological State Park, I had the
opportunity to speak with Dr. Jack Rink about a new technique
that he using to determine the age of the Crystal River
archaeological site. Dr. Rink is a professor and researcher at
McMaster University, McMaster Institute of Applied Radiation
Sciences. He began his education in Florida where he received
his Ph.D. in Geology at Florida State University. After working
on projects in Africa, Europe and Asia, Dr. Rink returned to
Florida several years ago to work on the Salt Springs site near
Palatka. He has since worked at sites around the state including
several shell middens on St. Joseph’s Bay in Florida. Dr. Rink
and his associates specialize in a special type of geochronology
called Optical Stimulated Luminescence—or OSL for short–that is
used to date archaeological sites and geological features. OSL
dating is a system of sampling and meas