This Viscous Remnant Magnetization, or VRM, is a bit of a nuisance in most paleomagnetic experiments. Researchers treat it as noise and remove it by heating their sample in order to focus on the main magnetic signature, such as the TRM, Vaknin says. The VRM has been known since the late 19th century and researchers have already tried over the last decades to use it to date geological events, but because the signal is so weak the results are not particularly precise. Still, it is enough to help determine if an artifact is authentic.So the technology is a blunt instrument. But sometimes you need a hammer, not tweezers."The resolution we require is not very high; we just want to know if an object is ancient or modern," Vaknin says.
The UC San Diego press release: Researchers develop method to tell authentic artifacts from fakes. Magnetic method reveals distinct time stamp of clay baking process.
Oddly, the DOI of the underlying article, given in both the press release and the Haaretz article, leads to a dead end. And I can find no sign of the article on the PNAS website. I hope it turns up again.
Meanwhile, this seems like a good time to link to this old post again.
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