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Radiocarbon Dating of Historical Parchments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Fiona Brock
Fiona Brock*
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

A range of pretreatment methods was applied to 6 known-age historical parchments to investigate the most suitable methods for effectively removing contamination and ensuring accurate radiocarbon dates while minimizing unnecessary destruction of potentially valuable historical documents. The methods tested included an acid wash, different concentrations of acid-base-acid (ABA) pretreatments, the current routine ABA method applied at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) that includes an additional bleach treatment, and extraction of collagen. The C:N atomic weight ratio of the untreated and pretreated parchment fractions was observed to be a useful indicator of the presence or successful removal of contaminants. The pretreatment methods that produced the most accurate 14C dates and acceptable C:N ratios were found to be ABA protocols (without bleach) and collagen extraction; solvent washes and acid pretreatments alone were not sufficient to remove all contaminants and produce reliable 14C dates. The inclusion of a base wash did not affect the 14C dates of the samples, but did favorably influence the C:N ratio of the final product.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 2: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 1 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 353 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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