Grave-good typologies have traditionally formed the basis for chronological frameworks in many areas of the world, including the Lika region of Croatia. Here, the authors report the first AMS radiocarbon dates from Late Bronze Age Lika (c. 1200–800 BC)—a period assumed to be synonymous with the emergence of the local Iapodian culture. Comparisons between the absolute dates and the relative chronological assignments of key burial contexts show inconsistencies between the dating methods that lead the authors to propose an alternative narrative for Iapodian emergence and socio-political reorganisation at the end of the Bronze Age.