OSL dating of terracotta bricks of the old mosque of Mila, Algeria : a case study

Abstract

The mosque of Mila is considered as the oldest mosque in Algeria, certain historical sources attribute the construction of the latter to Abou Mouhadjir Dinar in 674 AD by the reuse of materials from construction of earlier eras. The architectural stratigraphic study carried out on the mosque revealed that the current plan of the prayer hall of this mosque is organized in six naves and eight spans and seems to be the result of an extension of a previous plan which included four naves and seven spans. The stratigraphic study always gives a relative chronology in which the stratigraphic units are linked together by a relation of Anteriority and posteriority. In order to have an absolute dating and to confirm the hypotheses of construction and structural modification of this mosque, we proceeded to a dating on two samples of architectural bricks coming from the two parts by the optically stimulated luminescence method OSL in Fine grain technical Quartz. The results obtained made it possible to confirm the two hypotheses, the first relating to the construction of the mosque or the measurements display a date of 616±78AD while the second relating to the extension or the measurements display a date of 1007±80 AD. After a comparison with historical and archaeological data we were able to reduce the interval of the construction of the mosque which is located between [665-694] AD during the reign of the Umayyads and the extension Between [1019-1087] AD, under the reign of the Hammadids