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The Reliability of Archaeologic Interpretation of 14C Dates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Horst Willkomm*
Affiliation:
Institut für Reine und Angewandte Kernphysik der Universität Kiel, Olshausenstr 40-60, D-2300 Kiel 1, W-Germany
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Abstract

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14C dates of a medieval settlement with archaeologically well-dated strata are compared with the true ages of the respective layers. The 14C values indicate that each layer may contain older material reaching up to the beginning of settlement. Therefore, the 14C measurement of only a few wood or charcoal samples may lead to age estimations several hundred years too old.

Type
VII. Archaeology
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Bruns, M. Münnich, KO, and Becker, B, 1980, Natural radiocarbon variations from AD 200 to 800, in : Radiocarbon v 22, no. 2, p 273277.Google Scholar
Waterbolk, HT, 1971, Working with radiocarbon dates: Prehistoric Soc Proc, v 37, pt 2, p 1533.Google Scholar