Journal of the American Ceramic Society 94(8)(2011)2585-2591. Rehydration/Rehydroxylation Kinetics of Reheated XIX-Century Davenport (Utah) Ceramic Patrick K. Bowen 1† , Helen J. Ranck 1 , Timothy J. Scarlett 2 , and Jaroslaw W. Drelich 1 1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering 2 Department of Social Sciences Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931 Abstract Rehydroxylation Dating (RHX dating) has recently been proposed as a new chronometric dating tool for use on archaeological fired-clay ceramics. The technique relies upon the well- known characteristic of reheated porous ceramic vessels to regain water, the kinetics of which has been shown to follow a (time) 1/4 power law at temperatures of 13-50°C . In this study, experiments were conducted in which the mass measurements taken from 19th-century ceramic artifacts revealed a deviation from the (time) 1/4 power law over a wide range of temperatures. This finding has led to the formulation of an empirical equation which describes the observed ceramic’s rehydration and rehydroxylation behavior as an additive process in which the long- term mass gain is dictated by a (time) 1/n power law. As part of this study, the mineralogy of the ceramics and their thermal properties have been evaluated. The instantaneous effect of humidity on mass measurements was demonstrated to be the principal source of error. Financial support for this study was provided by the Charles and Carroll McArthur Research Internship program, the Michigan Space Grant Consortium undergraduate fellowship, and the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Michigan Technological University. † Author to whom correspondence should be directed. e-mail: pkbowen@mtu.edu