During the 1970s and 1980s scientists at Simon Frasier University, Canada, developed standard thermoluminescence dating procedures used to date sediments. In 1985, they also developed optically stimulated luminescence dating techniques, which use laser light, to date sediments.

Why is the dating method of pottery called thermoluminescence?

Thermoluminescence can be used to date materials containing crystalline minerals to a specific heating event. When a specimen is reheated, the trapped energy is released in the form of light (thermoluminescence) as the electrons escape.