An important advance in the radiocarbon dating of archaeological material occurred in the late 1990s, with direct dating of cremated human remains. A crucial part of the argument was the demonstration that comparable results could be obtained from paired dates of charcoal and calcined bone from the same contexts. Recent studies, however, have noted the influence of carbon from the fuel sources, raising a question over the interpretation of the paired charcoal/bone dates. Here, fleshed modern animal joints were burned with “old” fuel of known age, providing experimental evidence under natural conditions, demonstrating a clear effect of the fuel source on the carbon isotopic composition of calcined bone. In most situations in which branchwood was used as fuel, dates on calcined bone should not show any significant offset, as the wood will be of a similar age to the cadaver. For cases in which old wood, coal, or peat are used as fuel, we expect an offset of some decades/centuries, potentially up to millennia. We observed, however, that the amount of 14C intake from the fuel is extremely variable (from 39 to 95%). A strong correlation between age offset and δ13C values suggests that the latter might be useful in identifying large inputs from 14C-depleted fuels. A level of caution is recommended when 14C dating calcined bone in cases where fuels with an inbuilt age may have been used in the cremation process.

The territory of Siberia is of crucial importance for the study of early human dispersal and the peopling of the New World. A Siberian Paleolithic Radiocarbon Database has been compiled. The Database allows us to compile a chronolgical framework for human colonization of Northern Asia. There are 446 14C dates for 13 Middle and 111 Upper Paleolithic sites older than around 12,000 BP. Seventeen percent of the dates were obtained by the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) technique, and the remaining 83% are conventional. From the viewpoint of the spatial distribution of the 14C-dated sites, the majority of these are located at the Yenisey River Basin, Transbaikal, and the Altai Mountains. The general outline of the Upper Paleolithic colonization of Siberia is given here. The earliest traces of modern human occupation are dated to around 43,000–39,000 BP in the southern part of Siberia. It seems that by around 13,000 BP, almost all of northern Asia, including the extreme northeastern Siberia had been colonized by modern humans. We discuss some controversial problems that have provoked heated debates in current Russian archaeology. Notable among these are the surprisingly early AMS dates for the Early Upper Paleolithic, the age of the Dyuktai culture of Yakutia, the problem of human presence in Siberia at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (20,000–18,000 BP), and the timing of the initial settling of the Chukchi Peninsula and northeastern Siberia.

Megiddo (Israel) is a key site for the study of the stratigraphy, chronology, and history of the Bronze and Iron ages in the Levant. The article presents a Bayesian chronological model for seven ceramic typology phases and 10 stratigraphic horizons at this site, covering the Late Bronze and much of the Iron Age. The model is based on 78 samples, which provided 190 determinations—the most thorough set of radiocarbon determinations known so far in a single site in the Levant. This set of data provides a reliable skeleton for the discussion of cultural processes and historical events in the region and beyond, including the periods of the Egyptian Empire in Canaan and the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

We calibrated portions of the radiocarbon time scale with combined 230Th, 231Pa, 14C measurements of corals collected from Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu and the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. The new data map 14C variations ranging from the current limit of the tree-ring calibration [11,900 calendar years before present (cal BP), Kromer and Spurk 1998, now updated to 12,400 cal B P, see Kromer et al., this issue], to the 14C-dating limit of 50,000 cal BP, with detailed structure between 14 to 16 cal kyr BP and 19 to 24 cal kyr BP. Samples older than 25,000 cal BP were analyzed with high-precision 231Pa dating methods (Pickett et al. 1994; Edwards et al. 1997) as a rigorous second check on the accuracy of the 230Th ages. These are the first coral calibration data to receive this additional check, adding confidence to the age data forming the older portion of the calibration. Our results, in general, show that the offset between calibrated and 14C ages generally increases with age until about 28,000 cal BP, when the recorded 14C age is nearly 6800 yr too young. The gap between ages before this time is less; at 50,000 cal BP, the recorded 14C age is 4600 yr too young. Two major 14C-age plateaus result from a 130 drop in Δ14C between 14–15 cal kyr BP and a 700 drop in Δ14C between 22–25 cal kyr BP. In addition, a large atmospheric Δ14C excursion to values over 1000 occurs at 28 cal kyr BP. Between 20 and 10 cal kyr BP, a component of atmospheric Δ14C anti-correlates with Greenland ice δ18O, indicating that some portion of the variability in atmospheric Δ14C is related to climate change, most likely through climate-related changes in the carbon cycle. Furthermore, the 28-kyr excursion occurs at about the time of significant climate shifts. Taken as a whole, our data indicate that in addition to a terrestrial magnetic field, factors related to climate change have affected the history of atmospheric 14C.

The pretreatment of samples for radiocarbon measurements, transforming a variety of materials into graphite solid targets, represents a critical point in the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) procedure. We describe the new, state-of-the-art CIRCE AMS preparation laboratory, particularly the setup and optimization of an alternative method, the zinc reduction method, for graphite target production, compared to the more common hydrogen reduction method. Measured 14C values on standard and blank samples reduced via zinc reaction revealed mean background levels, accuracy, and sensitivity comparable to those obtained by our conventional hydrogen reaction lines. Zinc line reduction at the CIRCE laboratory represents an effective and powerful alternative to the conventional hydrogen reduction, ensuring higher sample throughput with lower costs at a comparable performance level.

Advances in radiocarbon dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) have made it possible to date prehistoric cave paintings by sampling the pigment itself instead of relying on dates derived from miscellaneous prehistoric remains recovered in the vicinity of the paintings. The work at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE) concentrated on prehistoric charcoal cave paintings from southern France and northern Spain. In most caves, pigment samples were collected from several paintings, and in some instances the sample size allowed for multiple independent measurements on the same figure, so that the coherence of the calculated dates could be tested. Before being dated, each specimen was subjected to a thermal treatment preceded by an acid and basic treatment of intensity commensurate with the sample size.

Nine bison drawings from three caves in the Cantabrian region of Spain—two from Covaciella, three from Altamira, and four from El Castillo—were sampled and dated. The 27 dates fell between 13,000 and 14,500 BP, allowing us to attribute the drawings to the Magdalenian period. The 24 dates for 13 drawings in the Cosquer cave indicated two distinct periods of painting activity—one around 28,000 BP and the other around 19,000 BP. The Chauvet cave paintings turned out to be the oldest recorded to date, as five dates fell between 32,000 and 31,000 BP. After discussing the sample preparation protocol in more detail, we will discuss the ages obtained and compare them with other chronological data.

Over the past decades, analysis of occluded carbon in phytoliths (opaline silica mineral bodies that form in and between plant cells) has become a workhorse of paleoclimate and archaeological studies. Since different plant types exhibit distinctive phytolith morphologies, their assemblages are used in identifying vegetation histories or food culture adaptations. A few direct radiocarbon AMS measurements of phytoliths have been carried out, but these measurements are difficult due to the low concentrations of phytoliths in some plant species, and the small amount of C per phytolith (<2%). In addition, no phytoliths samples of a known 14C age are available to verify measurement accuracy and precision, and to check sample preparation protocols. Background corrections are also difficult to address due to the lack of suitable material. In this work, we designed a procedure to quantify a suitable blank using SiO2 powder samples (close to the opal structure, and free of 14C). The full phytolith extraction showed high carbon contamination components: a) ∼3 μg of modern C and ∼2 μg of dead C. We also performed accuracy tests on large phytolith-occluded carbon samples extracted from soils and harvested plants. The unexpected 14C ages in some of the results triggered further investigations of possible sources of carbon contamination.

The coarse structure of the 14C spectrum consists of a secular trend curve that may be closely fit by a sinusoidal curve with period ca 11,000 yr and half amplitude ±51. This long-term trend is the result of changes in the earth's geomagnetic dipole moment. Consequently, it modulates solar components of the 14C spectrum but does not appear to modulate a component of the spectrum of ca 2300-yr period. The ca 2300-yr period is of uncertain origin but may be due to changes in climate because it also appears in the δ18O spectrum of ice cores. This component strongly modulates the well-known ca 200-yr period of the spectrum's fine structure. The hyperfine structure consists of two components that fluctuate with the 11-yr solar cycle. One component results from solar-wind modulation of the galactic cosmic rays and has a half-amplitude of ca ±1.5. The other component is the result of 14C production by solar cosmic rays that arrive more randomly but rise and fall with the 11-yr cycle and appear to dominate the fluctuation of the galactic cosmic-ray-produced component by a factor of two.

Radiocarbon-age measurements reported here were made at Lamont Geological Observatory between July 1958 and November 1960. Sample descriptions are classified as follows:

1. I. Samples associated with glacial deposits

2. II. Samples associated with marine coastal deposits

3. III. Samples associated with marine coastal deposits uplifted by glacial rebound

4. IV. Samples associated with pluvial-lake deposits

5. V. Samples from deep-sea cores

6. VI. Samples from cave deposits

7. VII. Miscellaneous samples of geologic interest

8. VIII. Samples of archaeologic interest

Within a project on Stone Age sites of NE Germany, 26 burials from the Ostorf cemetery and some further Neolithic sites have been analyzed by more than 40 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates. We here present the results of stable isotope and radiocarbon measurements together with reference 14C dates on grave goods from terrestrial animals such as tooth pendants found in 10 of the graves. Age differences between human individuals and their associated grave goods are used to calculate 14C reservoir effects. The resulting substantial reservoir effects have revealed misleadingly high 14C ages of their remains, which originally indicated a surprisingly early occurrence of graves and long-term use of this Neolithic burial site. We demonstrate that in order to 14C date the human bones from Ostorf cemetery, it is of utmost importance to distinguish between terrestrial- and freshwater-influenced diet. The latter may result in significantly higher than marine reservoir ages with apparent 14C ages up to ∼800 yr too old. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition may provide a basis for or an indicator of necessary corrections of dates on humans where no datable grave goods of terrestrial origin such as tooth pendants or tusks are available. Based on the associated age control animals, there is no evidence that the dated earliest burials occurred any earlier than 3300 BC, in contrast to the original first impression of the grave site (∼3800 BC).

The dates and activity measurements given below have been obtained during 1962 and 1963, and have been made with CO2 at 3 atm pressure in a proportional gas-counter very little modified from those described in previous contributions from this laboratory.

The 14C dating of organic fractions from paleosol layers containing <2% carbon in loess-paleosol sequences from the loess plateau in China has yielded results that are quite often much younger than the true age of the sediments. Percolation of modern organic materials from agricultural activities, and binding of these materials within the weathered clays of the paleosols has meant that conventional pretreatment techniques for 14C dating would not isolate a reliable chemical fraction. The total sequence from Bei Zhuang Cun, in Shaanxi Province, reflects the climatic history of the area for ca 30,000 years, ranging from the interstadial of the last glacial period to the postglacial period. Analysis of solvent extracts of organic material from this site indicates that they are mainly composed of carbohydrate residues originating from the relatively recent agricultural activity. Validity of the humic components for dating will be discussed.

We assessed marine reservoir age R(t) for the costal area of the northwest Pacific using radiocarbon measurements of the annually banded coral core (Porites sp) collected on Ishigaki Island in southern Japan. Reservoir age R(t) during the early 1900s at the Pacific coast of Ishigaki Island ranged between 290 and 455 14C yr, with a weighted mean of 355 ± 25 14C yr (n=5, ±1 σ). The regional-specific ΔR, defined as 14C age difference of regional and world ocean surface layer, was 35 ± 25 14C yr (n=5, ±1σ) on average and increased between 1900 and 1950.

In a separate study, we conducted a series of high-precision radiocarbon measurements using wood from Britain and New Zealand to investigate interhemispheric offsets and possible temporal variations. To minimize variability associated with different species, the pretreatment of the oak (Quercus patraea) and cedar (Librocedrus bidwilli) was to α-cellulose for both. This study investigates the thoroughness of a range of pretreatment processes by the stable isotope analysis of the products.

In 1969 radiocarbon dating facilities were established at the National Physical Research Laboratory of the C.S.I.R. in Pretoria (25° 43′ S Lat, 28° 21′ E Long; alt 1500 m). The counters are situated in an underground room built of selected concrete and covered by ca. 12 m earth. In this room, the nucleonic component of cosmic radiation is practically absent and the meson flux is reduced by a factor of 3.5 as compared to the surface at sea level in Groningen, Netherlands. A neutron monitor which registers 30 cpm on the surface, counts ca. 0.1 cpm in the underground room.

A 3MV multi-element accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) has been installed in Xi'an, China, and preliminary tests have been completed. The results of both background and precision tests for 4 nuclides are 3.1 × 10–16, 0.2% (14C); 1.8 × 10–14, 1.4% (10Be); 2.3 × 10–15, 1.14% (26Al); and 2.0 × 10–14, 1.75% (129I). The unique features of this facility are the newly developed ion source accepting solid and CO2 samples; the specially designed low-energy injector, including a “beam blanking unit” and “Q-snout”; the acceleration tube structure with the combined magnetic and electrostatic suppression; and the function of the slit stabilization in the post-acceleration system. These features are discussed in terms of the end-user's point of view.

A review is given of some critical events in the development of radiocarbon aerosol science, and the profound influence of radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) on its current applications and future prospects. The birth of this discipline occurred shortly after the initial development of 14C dating. Unlike dating, which is founded on the continual decay of 14C and the resulting full range of 14C/12C ratios in once-living matter, 14C applications to atmospheric aerosol research relate primarily to the determination of mixing ratios of fossil and biomass components. Such determinations have come to have major importance in work ranging from the resolution of woodburning and motor vehicle components of urban particulate pollution, to the apportionment of radiation-forcing (black) particulate carbon from natural wildfires and anthropogenic regional plumes. The development of this area has paralleled that of AMS itself, with the one or the other alternately serving as the driving force, in a sort of counterpoint. The remarkable million-fold improvement in sensitivity made possible by AMS has become critical in meeting rapidly emerging societal concerns with the origins and effects of individual carbonaceous species on health and climate.

Due to very high accumulation rates, loess sequences are best suited archives for the continental paleoclimate of glacial periods. Accurate chronologies cannot be easily established by radiocarbon-dating, because of the lack of organic macrorests, the only material for reliable 14C dating so far. A chemical protocol is reported to extract the organic matter of loess (organic carbon content lower than 0.1% by weight) for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating. Sediments were taken from the loess sequence of Nussloch, for which a large dataset of luminescence ages (TL, IRSL/OSL) is available. The 14C chronology of the organic matter extracted from loess is in good agreement with the corresponding luminescence ages. It allows high resolution correlations with climatic proxy signals (magnetic susceptibility, malacological assemblages, δ13C on organic matter, etc.) derived from the loess sequence and global environmental proxy records.

The main objective of this report is to present the dating process routinely applied to different types of samples at the Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone 14 (LMC14). All the results and protocols refer to our procedures over the last 5 years. A description of the sorting and chemical pretreatments of the samples as well as the extraction and graphitization of CO2 are reported. Our last study concerning the degradation of the blank level according to the storage time of the targets between graphitization and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement is also presented. This article also provides information on how to submit a valid laboratory sample. We give details relating to sampling procedures on site as well as contamination issues relative to the 14C dating methodology.

Two new 14C reference materials have been developed for international use, filling a gap in the present C1–C6 series available from the IAEA. By mixing a modern and a synthetic substance, 150 kg of C7 (ca. 50 pMC activity) and C8 (ca. 15 pMC activity), respectively, were obtained.