Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-12T22:43:01.736Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dendrochronologic Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

P. E. Damon ,
C. W. Ferguson ,
A. Long  and
E. I. Wallick
P. E. Damon
Affiliation:
College of Earth Sciences, University of Arizona
C. W. Ferguson
Affiliation:
College of Earth Sciences, University of Arizona
A. Long
Affiliation:
College of Earth Sciences, University of Arizona
E. I. Wallick
Affiliation:
College of Earth Sciences, University of Arizona
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Extensive radiocarbon analyses have been made of dendrochronologically dated wood. The resultant radiocarbon data are not in total agreement with the conventional solar calendar as exemplified by the tree-ring chronology. The discrepancy reaches a maximum between 4060 B.C. to 7350 B.C. when radiocarbon dates are too young by 800 to 870 yr. Using a compatible set of 549 dated samples as a working base, a calibration table has been derived for conversion of conventional radiocarbon dates to calendar dates. This conversion table covers the period of time from A.D. 1600 to 5400 B.C. Data are also given to facilitate the calculation of the accuracy of the corrected date by a simple, illustrated method.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 39 , Issue 2Part1 , April 1974 , pp. 350 - 366
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Damon, P. E., Long, A., and Grey, D. C. 1970 Arizona radiocarbon dates for dendrochronologically dated samples. In Radiocarbon variations and absolute chronology, edited by Olsson, Ingrid U., pp. 615–618. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Damon, P. E., Long, A., and Wallick, E. I. 1972 Dendrochronologic calibration of the carbon-14 time scale. In Proceedings of the eighth international radiocarbon dating conference, Vol. 1, edited by Rafter, T. A. and Grant-Taylor, T., pp. 44–59. Lower Hutt, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. W. 1968 Bristlecone pine: science and esthetics. Science 159:839–846.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. W. 1969 A 7104-year annual tree-ring chronology for bristlecone pine, Pinus aristata, from the White Mountains, California. Tree-Ring Bulletin 29:1–29.Google Scholar
Angeli, Wilhelm 1970a Concepts and techniques of dendrochronology. In Scientific methods in medieval archaeology, edited by Rainer Berger, pp. 183-200. UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Contributions IV. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Angeli, Wilhelm 1970b Dendrochronology of bristlecone pine in east-central Nevada. Terminal Report submitted to the Regional Forest, U. S. Forest Service. Ogden, Utah.Google Scholar
Angeli, Wilhelm 1970c Dendrochronology of bristlecone pine, Pinus aristata: establishment of a 7484-year chronology in the White Mountains of eastern central California, U.S.A. In Radiocarbon variations and absolute chronology, edited by Olsson, Ingrid U., pp. 237–259. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. W. 1972 Dendrochronology of bristlecone pine prior to 4000 B.C. In Proceedings of the eighth international radiocarbon dating conference, Vol. 1, edited by Rafter, T. A. and Grant-Taylor, T., pp. 18–26. Lower Hutt, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Godwin, H. 1962 Half-life of radiocarbon. Nature 195:984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houtermans, Jan C. 1971 Geophysical interpretations of bristlecone pine radiocarbon measurements using a method of Fourier analysis of unequally spaced data. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Faculty of Philosophy and Natural Science, University of Bern, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Lerman, J. C, Mook, W. G., and Vogel, J. C. 1970 C14 in tree rings from different localities. In Radiocarbon variations and absolute chronology, edited by Olsson, Ingrid U., pp. 275–299. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Libby, Willard F. 1955 Radiocarbon dating, second edition. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Long, Austin, and Rippeteau, Bruce 1974 Testing contemporaneity and averaging radiocarbon dates. American Antiquity 39:205–215.Google Scholar
Lowdon, J. A. 1969 Isotopic fractionation in corn. Radiocarbon 11:391–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michael, H. N., and Ralph, E. K. 1972 Discussion of radiocarbon dates obtained from precisely dated sequoia and bristlecone pine samples. In Proceedings of the eighth international radiocarbon dating conference, Vol. 1, edited by Rafter, T. A. and Grant-Taylor, T., pp. 27–43. Lower Hutt, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Olsson, Ingrid U. (Editor) 1970 Radiocarbon variations and absolute chronology. Proceedings, 12th Nobel Symposium, Uppsala, Sweden. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Ralph, E. K., and Michael, H. N. 1969 University of Pennsylvania radiocarbon dates XII. Radiocarbon 11:469–481.Google Scholar
Ralph, E. K., and Michael, H. N. 1970 MASCA radiocarbon dates for sequoia and bristlecone pine samples. In Radiocarbon variations and absolute chronology, edited by Olsson, Ingrid U., pp. 619–613. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Ralph, E. K., Michael, H. N., and Han, M. C. 1973 Radiocarbon dates and reality. MASCA Newsletter 9:1–20.Google Scholar
Schulman, Edmund 1956 Dendroclimatic changes in semiarid America. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Stokes, M. A., and Smiley, T. L. 1968 An introduction to tree-ring dating. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. 1969 Yale natural radiocarbon measurements IX. Radiocarbon 11:545–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Suess, H. E. 1966 On the relationship between radiocarbon dates and true sample ages. Radiocarbon 8:534–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suess, H. E. 1967 Bristlecone pine calibration of the radiocarbon time scale from 4100 B.C. to 1500 B.C. In Radioactive dating and methods of low-level counting, pp. 143–151. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.Google Scholar
Suess, H. E. 1970 Bristlecone pine calibration of the radiocarbon time scale 5200 B.C. to present. In Radiocarbon variations and absolute chronology, edited by Olsson, Ingrid U., pp. 303–309. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Suess, H. E., and Strahm, Christian 1970 The Neolithic of Auvernier, Switzerland. American Antiquity 44:91–95.Google Scholar
Wendland, W. M., and Donley, D. L. 1971 Radiocarbon-calendar age relationship. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 11:135–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar