  SUMMARY We report a new method to infer continuous time series of the
declination, inclination and intensity of the magnetic field from
archeomagnetic data. Adopting a Bayesian perspective, we need to specify a
priori knowledge about the time evolution of the magnetic field. It consists in
a time correlation function that we choose to be compatible with present
knowledge about the geomagnetic time spectra. The results are presented as
distributions of possible values for the declination, inclination or intensity.
We find that the methodology can be adapted to account for the age
uncertainties of archeological artefacts and we use Markov Chain Monte Carlo to
explore the possible dates of observations. We apply the method to intensity
datasets from Mari, Syria and to intensity and directional datasets from Paris,
France. Our reconstructions display more rapid variations than previous studies
and we find that the possible values of geomagnetic field elements are not
necessarily normally distributed. Another output of the model is better age
estimates of archeological artefacts.
