History of luminescence dating from an instrumentation perspective

Luminescence dating has developed over the last ∼60 years as a powerful technique for placing environmental and anthropogenic change into a secure temporal framework. However, over time, many have forgotten, or were never introduced to, the history of how of the method developed, particularly the role of unique instruments built in-house that enabled key methodological advances. In this paper we provide a concise history of the technique’s evolution, drawing on our own experiences.