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A Review of Current Approaches in the Pretreatment of Bone for Radiocarbon Dating by AMS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

R. E. M. Hedges  and
G. J. Van Klinken
R. E. M. Hedges
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3QJ, UK
G. J. Van Klinken
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, 6 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3QJ, UK
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Abstract

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Although the reliability of 14C dates of bone has increased greatly since AMS methods permitted better pretreatment on smaller samples, most old, badly contaminated or severely weathered bone still give serious problems. Several groups have recently proposed improvements to sample purification methods, often supported by a number of 14C measurements. We present here an overview of these improvements. The issue is complicated by the following:

  1. 1. Different problems are presented depending on age, preservation and degree of contamination of bone.

  2. 2. Methods may or may not be developed with routine application in mind.

  3. 3. Determining the conditions for which any method can be regarded as reliable is not at all straightforward.

Type
I. Sample Preparation and Measurement Techniques
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 34 , Issue 3: Proceedings of the 14th International Radiocarbon Conference , 1992 , pp. 279 - 291
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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