Geomagnetic field intensity in the eastern Mediterranean region in the second half of the 1st millennium BC and the beginning of our era

The magnetization of ceramic material manufactured in the eastern Mediterranean is studied. Data on the variation in geomagnetic field intensity in the time interval from the fourth-quarter of the 6th century BC through the 2nd century AD are obtained. The main tendency of the variation in the field intensity until approximately the middle of this interval is its decrease, after which the average intensity level varied insignificantly over the three next centuries. Variations with characteristic times of a few tens to a few hundreds of years are superimposed on the smooth variation in the field intensity approximated by a sinusoid with a period of 1600 yr. The data obtained in this work confirm the previously derived conclusion that short-term intensity variations have been permanently present in the geomagnetic field in the recent millennia.