RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-13DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.88
Margaret A Davis, Brendan J Culleton, Richard L Rosencrance, Christopher S Jazwa
{"title":"EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS ON PROCESSING LEATHER, SKIN, AND PARCHMENT FOR RADIOCARBON DATING","authors":"Margaret A Davis, Brendan J Culleton, Richard L Rosencrance, Christopher S Jazwa","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.88","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.88","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Skin-based samples (leather, skin, and parchment) in archaeological, historic and museum settings are among the most challenging materials to radiocarbon ( 14 C) date in terms of removing exogenous carbon sources—comparable to bone collagen in many respects but with much less empirical study to guide pretreatment approaches. In the case of leather, the 14 C content of materials used in manufacturing the leather can vary greatly. The presence of leather manufacturing chemicals before pretreatment and their absence afterward is difficult to demonstrate, and the accuracy of dates depends upon isolating the original animal proteins and removing exogenous carbon. Parchments differ in production technique from leather but include similar unknowns. It is not clear that lessons learned in the treatment of one are always salient for treating the other. We measured the 14 C content of variously pretreated leather, parchment, skin samples, and extracts, producing apparent ages that varied by hundreds or occasionally thousands of years depending upon sample pretreatment. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and C:N ratios provided insight into the chemical composition of carbon reservoirs contributing to age differences. The results of these analyses demonstrated that XAD column chromatography resulted in the most accurate 14 C dates for leather and samples of unknown tannage, and FTIR allowed for the detection of contamination that might have otherwise been overlooked.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"35 8","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136346852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-13DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.100
L G van der Sluis, A Zazzo, O Tombret, F Thil, J-M Pétillon
{"title":"TESTING THE USE OF XAD RESIN TO REMOVE SYNTHETIC CONTAMINATION FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL BONE PRIOR TO RADIOCARBON DATING","authors":"L G van der Sluis, A Zazzo, O Tombret, F Thil, J-M Pétillon","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.100","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Museum collections are extremely valuable sources of material for ongoing research, although the conservation history of some objects is not always recorded, which can be problematic for chemical analyses. While most contamination is removed using the acid-base-acid treatment, this may not be the case for cross-linked contamination. The XAD resin protocol was implemented at the radiocarbon ( 14 C) laboratory in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, and the setup was tested using known age bone samples and a consolidated Palaeolithic bone. Known age samples were consolidated with shellac or Paraloid, aged for a month, treated with or without the XAD resin and 14 C dated. Bone blank results showed that XAD resin was able to remove shellac, which was not the case for the ABA-only method. Results from VIRI I were more variable and VIRI F was possibly too young to show the effects of the consolidants. Two 14 C dates on the Palaeolithic bone after XAD treatment are statistically the same, while a sample without XAD treatment was significantly older, suggesting that the contaminant was not fully removed by the ABA-only treatment. This study demonstrates the potential of the XAD treatment to clean heritage bone samples stored in museums prior to geochemical analyses.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"44 7","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136347161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-09DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.90
M Wojcieszak, J Veenhoven, T Van den Brande, S Saverwyns, F Lynen, M Boudin
{"title":"RADIOCARBON DATING OF ASIAN LACQUERS: MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION AND ASSESSMENT OF A PRETREATMENT METHOD PRIOR TO ACCELERATOR MASS SPECTROMETRY","authors":"M Wojcieszak, J Veenhoven, T Van den Brande, S Saverwyns, F Lynen, M Boudin","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.90","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.90","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Lacquerwork technologies comprise multiple techniques depending on countries, time, and traditions. Carved Asian lacquers applied on wooden objects consist of multiple thin uncolored or pigmented layers spread over the surface. To radiocarbon ( 14 C) date these types of objects, often only the wooden structure is used. Here we report on a set of carved lacquered objects that were dated based on stylistic form, 14 C dating of the wooden structure and of the Asian lacquers. THM-Py-GC-MS and micro-Raman spectroscopy were used to confirm the molecular composition of the lacquers and helped assessing the pretreatment protocol. The lacquers analyzed contained between 20 and 50% wt carbon, thus 2–5 mg of sample were necessary for 14 C dating. The dates obtained on wood and lacquers showed a reliable correlation. The results suggest that, in most cases, it is sufficient to sample a part of the lacquer layers to date an object. We advise to perform an acid pretreatment followed by a successive solvent immersion with an increasing polarity. Dating different components of a lacquered object can also help to understand previous restoration interventions that frequently occur for ancient lacquered objects. Ceramic, metallic, and other objects covered with Asian lacquers can also be dated using this approach.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":" 31","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135244379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-08DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.75
Rachel Wood, Fleur King, Rebecca Esmay, Qianyang Chen, Larissa Schneider, Emilie Dotte-Sarout, Stewart Fallon, Kirstie Fryirs, Richard Gillespie, Russell Blong
{"title":"THE SIZE INHERITED AGE EFFECT ON RADIOCARBON DATES OF ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS: REDATING CHARCOAL FRAGMENTS IN A SAND-BED STREAM, MACDONALD RIVER, NSW, AUSTRALIA","authors":"Rachel Wood, Fleur King, Rebecca Esmay, Qianyang Chen, Larissa Schneider, Emilie Dotte-Sarout, Stewart Fallon, Kirstie Fryirs, Richard Gillespie, Russell Blong","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.75","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.75","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Radiocarbon dates on charred plant remains are often used to define the chronology of archives such as lake cores and fluvial sequences. However, charcoal is often older than its depositional context because old-wood can be burnt and a range of transport and storage stages exist between the woodland and stream or lake bed (“inherited age”). In 1978, Blong and Gillespie dated four size fractions of charcoal found floating or saltating in the Macdonald River, Australia. They found larger fragments gave younger age estimates, raising the possibility that taphonomic modifications could help identify the youngest fragments. In 1978 each date required 1000s charcoal fragments. This study returns to a sample from the Macdonald River to date individual charcoal fragments and finds the inherited age may be more than 1700 years (mode 250 years) older than the collection date. Taphonomic factors, e.g., size, shape or fungal infestation cannot identify the youngest fragments. Only two fragments on short-lived materials correctly estimated the date of collection. In SE Australia, this study suggests that wood charcoal will overestimate the age of deposition, taphonomic modifications cannot be used to identify which are youngest, and multiple short-lived materials are required to accurately estimate the deposition age.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":" 64","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135340647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-07DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.98
Tamás Varga, Dóra Szejke, Zoltán Nemes, A J Timothy Jull, Mihály Molnár
{"title":"THE POTENTIAL OF BIOGENIC FRACTION ANALYSIS BY RADIOCARBON IN FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC PRODUCTS","authors":"Tamás Varga, Dóra Szejke, Zoltán Nemes, A J Timothy Jull, Mihály Molnár","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.98","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.98","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Biobased content analysis is a well-established, analytically independent, standardized method to determine the biobased content of fuels and plastics, based on differences of the specific radiocarbon ( 14 C) activity of fossil and recent biogenic compounds. This biogenic content analysis can be useful for the producers as a quality assurance tool, for the customers as feedback about the truly biobased products and for the control organizations as an independent analytical tool to prove the biological origin. More than 100 commercially available foods, cosmetics, and drug samples have been used for biobased carbon content analysis by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C measurement to demonstrate the potential of this technique. Our results show that this measurement technique is a unique tool for the determination of biocontent in foodstuff and medical products. Most of the tested materials were nearly or completely biobased (≥ 98 pMC), and no completely fossil-based final product was detected. The lowest biogenic compound was measured in a vanilla aroma flavor. In 45 of the 102 samples selected a wide range (2–98%) presented fossil-based carbon content. The method can be applied for monitoring raw materials and final products for biobased content in the industry and consumer protection as well.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135476149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-07DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.101
Yannis Maniatis, Marisa Marthari, Georgios S Polymeris
{"title":"RADIOCARBON DATING OF THE MAJOR SETTLEMENT AT SKARKOS (IOS ISLAND, CYCLADES) AND INFERENCES FOR THE EARLY CYCLADIC CHRONOLOGY","authors":"Yannis Maniatis, Marisa Marthari, Georgios S Polymeris","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.101","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We have radiocarbon-dated the main settlement of Skarkos (Skarkos II) on the Cycladic island of Ios, using a set of animal bone samples. The site of Skarkos stands on a hill in a coastal plain, mid-way down the western side of Ios island and about 1 km from the island’s harbour. It is the first time this important settlement with a wealth of finds and an extraordinary building system with two-storey houses is dated in absolute terms complementing the chronology of the Cycladic EBA II period. The radiocarbon determinations show that the major phase of the settlement came to an end between circa 2550 and circa 2500 BC. The dates also confirm the archaeological evidence that the main occupation period is dated archaeologically to the EC II period (Keros-Syros culture). Furthermore, in order to embed the new Skarkos dates within the overall Cycladic chronology and define better the end of the EC II phase, we treated the Skarkos dates together with published dates from other Cycladic sites using Bayesian analysis considering two different models.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"4 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135480538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-07DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.94
Anita Quiles, Karin Sowada, Naguib Kanawati
{"title":"DATING THE END OF THE EGYPTIAN OLD KINGDOM: NEW CONTEXTUALIZED DATES FROM THE REIGN OF KING PEPY II","authors":"Anita Quiles, Karin Sowada, Naguib Kanawati","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.94","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.94","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this study, the temporal accession date of king Pepy II is modeled by using a series of 14 C dates based on samples from the burial of Djau at Deir el-Gebrawi in Middle Egypt. Djau was one of Pepy II’s officials—overseer of Upper Egypt and nomarch of the 8th and 12th provinces. Five samples of Djau’s wrapping as well as his wooden coffin were analyzed. ATR-FTIR (Attenuated Total Reflection–Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy) analyses were carried out on textile samples to ensure they were not contaminated by organic chemicals due to the embalming process, prior to being dated using the conventional radiocarbon method at the IFAO Laboratory (Cairo). Based on archaeological evidence, the temporal density associated with Djau’s death is then used as a chronological marker for the death date of king Pepy II. Taking into account the possibility of either biennial, annual or irregular censuses to assess the duration of his reign, the accession date of Pepy II is thus modeled using OxCal software. The results place king Pepy II’s accession date between 2492 to 2256 BCE with 95.4% probability, and between 2422 to 2297 BCE with 68.3%.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"69 S4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135475876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-07DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.99
Patricia L Fall, Elizabeth Ridder, Suzanne E Pilaar Birch, Steven E Falconer
{"title":"BAYESIAN MODELING OF A PERIPHERAL MIDDLE BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT AT ZAHRAT ADH-DHRA‘ 1, JORDAN","authors":"Patricia L Fall, Elizabeth Ridder, Suzanne E Pilaar Birch, Steven E Falconer","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.99","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.99","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Analysis of 20 calibrated accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14 C) ages reveals a chronology for the habitation of a unique peripheral settlement at Zahrat adh-Dhra‘ 1 (ZAD 1), Jordan during the Middle Bronze Age of the Southern Levant. Bayesian modeling distinguishes three phases of occupation between the first settlement at ZAD 1, perhaps as early as about 2050 cal BCE, and its abandonment by 1700 cal BCE. ZAD 1 represents a marginal community, both environmentally and culturally, on the hyperarid Dead Sea Plain, and exemplifies the peripheral settlements that are envisioned as important elements of Bronze Age Levantine society. Most importantly for this study, it is the only peripheral site in the Southern Levant that provides a Bayesian model for its habitation during the growth of Middle Bronze Age urbanized society. The timing of ZAD 1’s constituent phases, early in Middle Bronze I, across the Middle Bronze I/II transition and in Middle Bronze II, correspond well with emerging chronologies for the Middle Bronze Age, thereby contributing to an ongoing reassessment of regional social and settlement dynamics.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"9 12","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135479998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-11-03DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.92
Giovanni Pesce
{"title":"THE NEED FOR A NEW APPROACH TO THE RADIOCARBON DATING OF HISTORIC MORTARS","authors":"Giovanni Pesce","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.92","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.92","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This commentary aims at raising awareness and fostering a discussion on the need of a new approach to the radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating of historic mortars. Over the last decades, important advancements have been made in the application of the 14 C dating methods to lime mortar samples, including the use of lime lumps instead of generic pieces of mortar. However, a relevant number of results in disagreement with the chronological framework of the related archaeological cases are published every year without a clear understanding of the reasons for such results. This suggests that further developments to the methodology are needed. The commentary argues that to further develop this particular application of the 14 C dating method, a new, more holistic approach is needed that moves away from the very “applied” approach that dominated the last decades and focuses more on the causes of contamination and the mechanism of the reactions involved. Two actions are suggested that can immediately improve our ability to critically assess the results obtained: the publication of a chemical and mineralogical characterization of the binding fraction for the dated mortars, and the publication of sampling depth for each dated sample.","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"6 9","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135820420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
RadiocarbonPub Date : 2023-10-31DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2023.95
Sean Ulm, Damien O’Grady, Fiona Petchey, Quan Hua, Geraldine Jacobsen, Lauren Linnenlucke, Bruno David, Daniel Rosendahl, Magdalena M E Bunbury, Michael I Bird, Paula J Reimer
{"title":"AUSTRALIAN MARINE RADIOCARBON RESERVOIR EFFECTS: ΔR ATLAS AND ΔR CALCULATOR FOR AUSTRALIAN MAINLAND COASTS AND NEAR-SHORE ISLANDS","authors":"Sean Ulm, Damien O’Grady, Fiona Petchey, Quan Hua, Geraldine Jacobsen, Lauren Linnenlucke, Bruno David, Daniel Rosendahl, Magdalena M E Bunbury, Michael I Bird, Paula J Reimer","doi":"10.1017/rdc.2023.95","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2023.95","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Studies of pre-bomb mollusks live-collected around the Australian coastline have concluded that near-shore marine radiocarbon reservoir effects are small and relatively uniform. These studies are based on limited samples of sometimes dubious quality representing only selective parts of Australia’s lengthy coastline. We systematically examine spatial variability in the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect (ΔR) through analysis of 292 live-collected mollusk samples across the Australian mainland coasts and near-shore islands subject to strict selection criteria. This study presents 233 new ΔR values combined with an evaluation of 59 previously published values. Results demonstrate significant spatial variability in marine radiocarbon reservoir effects across the study region. ΔR values range from 68 ± 24 14 C years off the Pilbara region of Western Australia to –337 ± 46 14 C years in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland. Most sets of local values exhibit internal consistency, reflecting the dominant influence of regional oceanography, including depletion in ΔR values southwards along the eastern Australian coastline coincident with the East Australian Current. Anomalous values are attributed to inaccurate documentation, species-specific relationships with the carbon cycle and/or short-term fluctuations in marine radiocarbon activities. To account for the heterogeneous distribution of marine 14 C, we recommend using a location specific ΔR value calculated using the Australian ΔR Calculator, available at: https://delta-r-calc.jcu.io/ .","PeriodicalId":21020,"journal":{"name":"Radiocarbon","volume":"216 2","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135813884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}