THE DIRECTION OF THE TERRESTRIAL MAGNETIC-FIELD IN FRANCE, DURING THE LAST 21 CENTURIES - RECENT PROGRESS

The object of this paper is to present the complete directional archaeomagnetic data at present available for France from backed clay found in situ. Bivariate statistics have been used to draw the curves of the variation of the direction of the terrestrial magnetic field (TMF) for Paris during the last 21 centuries. The fidelity of fossilization of the TMF and the precision of archaeological dating are discussed, together with the geographical corrections employed to integrate local results with the data for Paris. These results should on the one hand contribute to a better understanding of the Earth's magnetic field, and on the other allow an accurate assessment of the limits of the method of dating baked clay structures by archaeomagnetism.