Session: #444

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
5. Theories and methods in archaeology: interactions between disciplines
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
14C: The Clock Reading the Past and Present of the Humankind
Content:
The introduction of radiocarbon dating method in the second half the 20th Century revolutionized archeology. Ever since the first absolute radiocarbon ages were created for archeological contexts, the method remains a commonly used tool applied by archeologists. The technical developments that took place during the last seven decades opened the field to new materials and new applications. Moreover, the technical and methodological improvements also showed the complexity of radiocarbon dating. We also address the many recent technical improvements to the methods, including reduction in sample sizes, automation and the wider availability of smaller devices. These changes have made it easier to date very small samples, including specific compounds, but at the same time, raise new questions about association of material with the events of interest. We invite archaeologists with questions about these methods, as well as experts to contribute. In this session we would like to address the many diverse aspects of radiocarbon dating applied to archeological samples such as removal of contamination, samples size and new developments in the calibration of the radiocarbon time-scale.
Keywords:
Radiocarbon dating, Radiocarbon calibration, AMS dating
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:

Organisers

Main organiser:
Timothy Jull (Hungary) 1,2
Co-organisers:
Irka Hajdas (Switzerland) 3
Affiliations:
1. Institute for Nuclear Research
2. University of Arizona
3. ETH ZUirch