Session: #241

Content:

In recent years, issues of radiocarbon dating have been somewhat overshadowed by the bio-molecular revolution, in particular the contributions of aDNA and stable isotopes. Nevertheless, we believe that radiocarbon dating still plays a significant role in the network of scientific methods currently changing the entire discipline of archaeology. Improvements in radiocarbon chronologies occurring in the last two decades, especially Bayesian probability modelling, the growing pool of datable materials and new theoretical approaches, are widening our interpretational possibilities for understanding the past. Answering the fundamental question ‘When?’ with ever-increasing accuracy and precision enables us to produce chronologies on the scale of people’s lifetimes. Growing numbers of available radiocarbon data allow us to explore entirely new perspectives at multiple levels. We can construct new narratives of long-term processes as well as identify short events and tipping points, creating a more flexible, interactive image of the past.
In this session, we aim to discuss all aspects, challenges and also potential and real pitfalls of radiocarbon dating. We welcome contributions addressing:
1) New achievements in radiocarbon dating regarding materials, precision and techniques
2) Chronological modelling
3) The relationship between relative and absolute chronology
4) Ways in which new chronologies have influenced our interpretative inferences
5) Limitations of the radiocarbon method
A range of contexts and spatial units could be addressed, from individual sites to regions or periods.

Session: #241

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