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An archaeological radiocarbon database for southern Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2019

Emma Loftus Open the ORCID record for Emma Loftus [Opens in a new window] ,
Peter J. Mitchell  and
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Emma Loftus*
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK
Peter J. Mitchell
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits 2050, South Africa
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 1 South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3TS, UK
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

The Southern African Radiocarbon Database (SARD) is a new online, open-access database of published radiocarbon dates from southern African archaeological contexts. Compatible with the calibration, Bayesian modelling and mapping functionality of the OxCal software, the SARD will greatly assist in the documentation and analysis of chronological trends across the subcontinent. This article introduces the database and presents two case studies that demonstrate its utility and its integration with OxCal, comparing the temporal distribution of radiocarbon dates in two archaeologically well-investigated regions, and assessing the timing of Middle to Later Stone Age technological developments across the African subcontinent.

Keywords

southern Africaradiocarbonopen accesschronological modelling
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 370 , August 2019 , pp. 870 - 885
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019 

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