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Radiocarbon Dating to a Single Year by Means of Rapid Atmospheric 14C Changes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

L Wacker ,
D Güttler ,
J Goll ,
J P Hurni ,
H-A Synal  and
N Walti
L Wacker*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
D Güttler
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
J Goll
Affiliation:
Archäologischer Dienst Graubünden, Müstair, Switzerland
J P Hurni
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Romand de Dendrochronologie, LRD Moudon, Switzerland
H-A Synal
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
N Walti
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
*
2. Corresponding author: Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

In the best case, radiocarbon measurements allow artificial objects to be dated with a precision of 10 calendar years when conventional wiggle-matching onto the IntCal09 calibration curve is applied. More precise dating can only be achieved by using annually resolved 14C calibration data, particularly in timespans when there are rapid changes in atmospheric 14C concentration. The recently observed jump in atmospheric 14C concentration of 1.5% between AD 774 and 775, though expected to be rare, is a good example for such a rapid change. We demonstrate by example that is possible to precisely 14C date the cutting year of a timber in the historically important and well-preserved Holy Cross chapel of the convent St. John the Baptist in Val Müstair, Switzerland.

Type
Methodology: Generaland Bones
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , 2014 , pp. 573 - 579
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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