  Certain regions of the solar atmosphere are at sufficiently low temperatures
to be only partially ionised. The lower chromosphere contains neutral atoms,
the existence of which greatly increases the efficiency of the damping of waves
due to collisional friction momentum transfer. More specifically the Cowling
conductivity can be up to 12 orders of magnitude smaller than the Spitzer
value, so that the main damping mechanism in this region is due to the
collisions between neutrals and positive ions. Using values for the gas density
and temperature as functions of height taken from the VAL C model of the quiet
Sun, an estimate is made for the dependance of the Cowling conductivity on
height and strength of magnetic field. Using both analytic and numerical
approaches the passage of Alfven waves over a wide spectrum through this
partially ionised region is investigated. Estimates of the efficiency of this
region in the damping of Alfven waves are made and compared for both
approaches. We find that Alfven waves with frequencies above 0.6Hz are
completely damped and frequencies below 0.01 Hz unaffected.
