This paper presents results of accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating of prehistoric samples (human and animal bones, cremated human bones, charcoals, and other charred plant macroremains) from archaeological sites located in the area of Dobużek Scarp, on the Sokal Ridge in central-eastern Poland (E Poland). The date list reports 46 14C age measurements performed within the project “The Dobużek Scarp Microregion as a part of a physiological and biocultural frontier between the Baltic and the Pontic zone (from the 6th to the 2nd millennium BC)” conducted in 2016–2021. The resulting 14C dates fall into quite a long interval, which in terms of the regional archaeological periodization lasts from the Middle Eneolithic to the Early Iron Age, and in terms of the climatological one corresponds with the Subboreal.

Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating was used for determining the age of wedge ice. It has been found that between 11,270 and 6420 cal BP, or the Greenlandian and Northgrippian stages of the Holocene, ice wedges grew syngenetically in sandy deposits with gravel in the Chara River valley. The variations of δ18O values in the ice wedges are about 8‰, from –25.5‰ to –18.8‰. Based on the stable isotope composition of ice wedges, paleotemperature reconstructions revealed that the mean January temperature was as low as –38°C during the coldest periods of the early half of the Holocene and as high as –28°C during the warmer periods.

In this paper, we discuss how the radiocarbon dating of soot on oil lamps can help determine the chronology of the Jewish catacombs of Rome. We also explore the ramifications of our work for the typological study of Roman period terracotta lamps.

This article discusses radiocarbon dating results of documents preserved at the Central Library of the University of Tehran (hereafter, CLUT) as part of the project “Irankoran.” The paper adds new evidence to an ongoing campaign of dating Qurʾāns and Oriental manuscripts by the Corpus Coranicum Project. The dated manuscripts include one kūfī fragment of the Qurʾān on parchment (no. 10950) and a selection of Islamic and Persian manuscripts, all from the second millennium: the Arabic dictionary Muǧmal al-Luġah (Meškāt no. 203), the medical encyclopedia Ḏaḫīrah-ye Kh w ārazmšāhī (no. 5156), the epic Panǧ Ganǧ of Neẓāmī (no. 5179), the book of wisdom Ādāb al-Falāsifah (no. 2165) attributed to Ḥunayn b. Isḥāq (d. 873 CE), and one of the oldest extant manuscripts of the Avesta Wīdēwdād (no. 11263). Although the authenticity of their colophons is disputed, radiocarbon dating supports the dates of the colophons; even in cases where they were suspected of being tampered with, they most likely present the accurate original dates of the corresponding manuscripts. Only in the case of Ādāb al-Falāsifah (no. 2165), radiocarbon dating of the parchment has identified the manuscript as non-authentic. Inconsistent carbon dating results of two samples taken from Ḏaḫīrah-ye Khwārazmšāhī (no. 5156) and Panǧ Ganǧ (no. 5179) provide evidence of later replaced/added leaves.

The application of traditional gas or liquid scintillation counting (LSC) is necessary for assessing radionuclide activity in countries without operating accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facilities. A simple and relatively inexpensive system of mini gas counters for measurement of radiocarbon in archaeological and environmental samples has been set up recently in the Kraków laboratory (Department of Environmental Physics, University of Mining and Metallurgy). The system is composed of a gas purification and counter filling line, three identical 15-mL copper/quartz counters, active and passive shielding, and an electronic unit with data acquisition. One counter measures 22 mg of carbon as CO2 with efficiency >95% at a background reduced to 0.044 cpm by a NaJ(Tl) guard counter and lead shield. The detection limit (1 σ) for a two-week measurement of 48 mL of CO2 is 0.52 pMC. The corresponding counting error of a 100 pMC environmental sample is 1.3 pMC for 22 mgC (one counter) and 0.75 pMC for 66 mgC (three counters filled with the same sample).

Grant Kocharov was a man whose life mirrored all the complexity and controversy of the fate of Russia in the second part of the 20th century. Kocharov was a bright, colorful, and ambitious person. He was born in Georgia, and his childhood and youth were not sunny and cloudless. His father died early and it was very difficult for his mother to feed their large family.

This work is a study of changes of the radiocarbon concentration in the youngest part of Lake Gościąż sediments in the calendar time scale during the last 150 years. This period includes the time of the nuclear weapons tests performed in the upper atmosphere in the 1950s and the 1960s, which caused large release of 14C and 137Cs into the environment. On the basis of this study, the isotope dilution factor for 14C and the exchange time of carbon between the atmosphere and Lake Gościąż was estimated. The chronology of the upper part of the sediments was constructed using many interdisciplinary investigations. Among them, measurements of 137Cs in the sediment were used. An unexpected discrepancy between the previously constructed time scale and that suggested by 137Cs is observed in one of the cases.

This paper includes determinations of archaeological samples coming from different sites and performed at the ENEA Radiocarbon Laboratory.

The radiocarbon laboratory of the Center of Applied Research and Documentation of Udine (CRAD), became operative early in 1977 and uses a benzene liquid scintillation counting method. Benzene is prepared as outlined by Legers and Tamers (1963), Noakes, Kim, and Akers (1967), Belluomini et al (1978). The procedure of chemical synthesis is detailed in CRAD (1977).

With the advent of AMS radiocarbon dating of very small samples, a much greater opportunity now exists for research into specialized materials. Investigations of the proteins of bone and teeth for archaeological purposes suggest that much more information might be obtained by appropriate study of individual proteins in these tissues. Although present research seems limited to 14C dating, racemization and dietary selection, conditions of the environment during preservation and some of the physiological events during life are likely to be discernible through further studies.

The optimum operating conditions providing minimum run-time and running costs have been studied theoretically for a thermal diffusion plant to be used for the enrichment of the radiocarbon isotope from finite sample size.

The calculations are based on a simple approximate model of the enrichment process, regarding the isotope separation column as operating under quasi-stationary state conditions. The temporal variation of the isotope accumulation is given by a single exponential term. From comparison with the numerical solution of the separation tube equation, approximate models of this simple type appear hardly sufficient for analytical work but seem well suited for optimization calculations. For column operation not too close to the equilibrium state, the approximate run-times were found accurate within 0.2 d.

The approximate model has been applied to a column of the concentric type, operated on gaseous methane. Cross-section configuration and temperatures were not varied (hot and cold wall radii: 2.0 and 2.6cm, respectively; hot and cold wall temperatures: 400°C and 14°C, respectively). The column transport coefficients used were derived from measurements. Run-time was minimized by optimizing both the operating pressure and the sample collection mode for different total sample size (range studied: 24 to 100 g), mass of enriched sample (1.8, 2.4, and 3.0 g), enrichment factor (12, 15, and 20) and column length (8 to 18 m). Optimum working pressures are between 1 and 2 atm. Usually, about 90 percent of the enriched sample mass is extracted favorably from the column itself, the length of the sampling section being about 2.5 to 5 m. Typical runtimes are between 3 days and 2 weeks, and isotope yield may reach 90 percent.

Optimum operating conditions have also been calculated for other column configurations reported in literature and are compared with the experimental results.

A radiocarbon facility has been installed at the University of California, Riverside (UCR) to support interdisciplinary studies including archaeologic, archaeometric, geophysical, and geologic research. The laboratory was built between 1970 and 1973. Initially, a sample pretreatment and combustion system designed for a proportional CO2 counting system was installed. It was designed after concepts developed at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and New Zealand (Institute of Nuclear Sciences) Laboratories, and began processing samples in November 1972.

This list includes the measurements carried out from 1977–1978. Procedures of synthesis of benzene, counting method, and performance figures of results were previously described (R, 1982, v 24, p 214–216; CRAD, 1977; Barbina, Calligaris, & Ciuti, 1979). Samples were pretreated according to generally applied methods, depending on type of material and particular archaeologic and geologic features.