Elizabeth K. Ralph

rdf:langString Elizabeth K. Ralph

rdf:langString Elizabeth K. Ralph (1921–1993) was a pioneer in the development and application of radiocarbon dating techniques to archeology, as well as a long-time member of the U.S. women’s field hockey team. In the Radiocarbon Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, and later in the Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology (MASCA) in the Penn Museum, Ralph developed methods for dendrochronology, or tree-ring dating, and thermoluminescence for dating ceramics. She also improved instruments for the measurement of magnetic intensity, including cesium magnetometers, which located landscape anomalies that could signal the presence of archaeological sites. In the 1960s, she used these instruments to help locate the Archaic Greek site of Sybaris in southern Italy. She went on to analyze and date materials from dozens of archaeological sites in several countries. She published her research in journals including Science and Nature, and with her colleague H.N. Michael, published a textbook entitled Dating Techniques for the Archaeologist, which appeared from MIT Press in 1971. From 1962 to 1982 she served as Associate Director of MASCA lab, which she helped to establish with support from the National Science Foundation.