1 Three archaeomagnetic applications of archaeological interest to the study of burnt anthropogenic cave sediments Á. Carrancho 1* , Á. Herrejón 2 and J.M. Vergès 3, 4 1. Área de Prehistoria. Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía. Universidad de Burgos. Edificio I+D+I. Plaza Misael Bañuelos s/n. 09001, Burgos, Spain. E-mail: acarrancho@ubu.es 2. Dpto. Física, Universidad de Burgos. Escuela Politécnica Superior, Avda. Cantabria S/N 09006, Burgos, Spain. 3. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, C/Marcel.lí Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain 4. Área de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya, 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain Abstract Recent archaeomagnetic studies carried out on Mid- to Late Holocene burnt anthropogenic cave sediments have shown that under certain conditions, these materials are suitable geomagnetic field recorders. Archaeomagnetic analyses carried out on these contexts constitute a rich source of information not only for geophysical purposes -in terms of reconstructing the variation of Earth's magnetic field in the past- but also from the archaeological point of view, for example by archaeomagnetic dating. Here, we report three different archaeomagnetic applications to the study of burnt cave sediments: (i) archaeomagnetic dating; (ii) determining palaeotemperatures and (iii) assessing post- depositional processes. The first case study is a dating attempt carried out on a Late Holocene (Bronze Age) burnt level from El Mirador Cave (Burgos, Spain). Using the directional European secular variation curve, several dating intervals were obtained for the last burning of this combustion feature. Considering the archaeological evidence and the independent radiometric ( 14 C) dating available the possible ages obtained are discussed. This is the first archaeomagnetic dating obtained in these contexts so far. The second case study is an application of the method to determine the last heating temperatures reached by the carbonaceous facies of these fires. Stepwise thermal demagnetization of oriented samples can be used to quantitatively estimate heating temperatures. An intermediate normal polarity component interpreted as a partial *Manuscript Click here to view linked References