Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T23:24:29.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE FIRST 14C LABORATORY IN MEXICO: THE BASIS OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

Alberto Alcántara Open the ORCID record for Alberto Alcántara [Opens in a new window] ,
Corina Solís ,
María Rodríguez-Ceja ,
Miguel Ángel Martínez-Carrillo Open the ORCID record for Miguel Ángel Martínez-Carrillo [Opens in a new window] ,
Efraín Chávez  and
María Esther Ortiz
Alberto Alcántara*
Affiliation:
Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Periférico Sur y Calle Zapote s/n, Isidro Fabela, Mexico City, Mexico
Corina Solís
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
María Rodríguez-Ceja
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
Miguel Ángel Martínez-Carrillo
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, C.P. 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
Efraín Chávez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
María Esther Ortiz
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito de la Investigación Científica s/n, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 04510, Mexico City, Mexico
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The development of dating with radiocarbon (14C) by W. F. Libby and his colleagues, and its immediate application to archaeological objects from Mexico, aroused the interest of Mexican archaeological community, especially from the Prehistory Direction of the INAH. Joining efforts, the Institute of Physic of UNAM and INAH set up the first 14C laboratory in 1954. Augusto Moreno, who had worked and learned the technique with Libby in Chicago, was named the researcher in charge of this laboratory. We present the chronology of the project to install the first 14C laboratory in Mexico and some of the archaeological research projects that used the 14C dating technique carried out in Mexico in the 1960s.

Keywords

historicalMexican archaeologyradiocarbon dating
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 64 , Issue 3: Seven Decades of Radiocarbon Dating: Remembering the Pioneers & Looking Towards the Future. Part 1 of 2 , June 2022 , pp. 623 - 631
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

Deceased.

References

REFERENCES

Aguilera Ríos, S, Garza Hernández, M. 2002. Homenaje a un gran pionero de la física experimental en México. El Faro 19:10–11.Google Scholar
Alba, F, Vázquez Barete, M, Brody, T, Lezama, H, Tejera, A, Moreno, A, Beltrán, V. 1956. Primer informe sobre estudios de la lluvia radioactiva. Revista Mexicana de Física 5(4).Google Scholar
Alcántara, A, Solís, C, Aguilar, FL, Rodríguez-Ceja, M, Linares, VHA, Guadarrama, ES, Nuñez, SB. 2020. Radiocarbon dating applied to Prehispanic territorial dynamics at El Maye, Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, Mexico. Radiocarbon 62(6):1723–1731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alcántara, A. 2021. Entre tepalcates. Hacia una comprensión historiográfica de la datación arqueométrica en la arqueología mexicana [tesis de licenciatura]. Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia.Google Scholar
Ardelean, CF, Becerra-Valdivia, L, Pedersen, MW, Schwenninger, JL, Oviatt, CG, Macías-Quintero, JI, Arroyo-Cabrales, J, Sikora, M, Ocampo-Díaz, YZE, Rubio-Cisneros, II, Watling, JG, de Medeiros, VB, De Oliveira, PE, Barba-Pingarón, L, Ortiz-Butrón, A, Blancas-Vázquez, J, Rivera-González, I, Solís-Rosales, C, Rodríguez-Ceja, M, Gandy, DA, Navarro-Gutiérrez, Z, De Las Rosa-Díaz, JJ, Huerta-Arellano, V, Marroquín-Fernández, MB, Martínez-Riojas, LM, López-Jiménez, A, Higham, T, Willerslev, E. 2020. Evidence of human occupation in Mexico around the Last Glacial Maximum. Nature 584(7819):87–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aveleyra, L. 1964. Sobre dos fechas de radiocarbono 14 para la cueva de la Candelaria, Coahuila. Anales de Antropología 1(1).Google Scholar
Balcells, J, Solís, C, Rodríguez-Ceja, M. 2019. Datación por análisis de 14C: la fecha más antigua de Palenque y otros datos arqueológicos tempranos. Revista escribas.Google Scholar
Berger, R, Fergusson, GJ, Libby, WF. 1965. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates IV. Radiocarbon 7:336–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, R, Libby, WF. 1966. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates V. Radiocarbon 8:467–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, R, Libby, WF. 1968a. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates VII. Radiocarbon 10(1):149–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, R, Libby, WF. 1968b. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates VIII. Radiocarbon 10(2):402–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, R, Libby, WF. 1969. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates IX. Radiocarbon 11(1):194–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernal, I. 1965. Teotihuacán: nuevas fechas de radiocarbono y su posible significado. Anales de Antropología 2(1).Google Scholar
Buckley, JD, Willis, EH. 1969. Isotopes Radiocarbon Measurements VII. Radiocarbon 11(1):53–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckley, JD, Willis, EH. 1970. Isotopes Radiocarbon Measurements VIII. Radiocarbon 12(1):87–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulbulian, S. 2012. Historia de la investigación de la radioactividad en el Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares. Boletín de la Sociedad de Química Mexicana 6(1):13–26.Google Scholar
Chandler, JB, Kinningham, R, Massey, DS. 1963. Texas Bio-Nuclear Radiocarbon Measurements I. Radiocarbon 5:56–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, HR, Griffin, JB. 1960. University of Michigan Radiocarbon Dates V. Radiocarbon 2:31–48.Google Scholar
Crane, HR, Griffin, JB 1963. University of Michigan Radiocarbon Dates VIII. Radiocarbon 5:228–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, HR, Griffin, JB 1964. University of Michigan Radiocarbon Dates IX. Radiocarbon 6:1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, HR, Griffin, JB. 1966. University of Michigan Radiocarbon Dates XI. Radiocarbon 8:256–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruz Manjarrez, H. 1976. Reseña histórica del Instituto de Física. Segunda Etapa 1953–1970. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Damon, PE, Long, A. 1962. Arizona Radiocarbon Dates III. Radiocarbon 4:239–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deevey, ES, Gralenski, LJ, Hoffren, V. 1959. Yale Natural Radiocarbon Measurements IV. Radiocarbon 1:144–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Peso, C, Rinaldo, JB, Fenner, G. 1974. Dating methods. In: Casas Grandes: a fallen trading center of the Gran Chichimeca. Vol. 4. Flagstaff (AZ): Amerind Foundation Series. p. 8–37.Google Scholar
Dutrénit, G, Zuñiga, P, editors. 2013. Construyendo el Dialogo entre los actores del sistema de ciencia, tecnología e innovación. Foro Consultivo Científico y Tecnológico, A.C.Google Scholar
Fergusson, GJ, Libby, WF. 1962. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates I. Radiocarbon 4:109–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fergusson, GJ, Libby, WF. 1963. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates II. Radiocarbon 5:1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fergusson, GJ, Libby, WF. 1964. UCLA Radiocarbon Dates III. Radiocarbon 6:318–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gómez-Chávez, S, Solís, C, Gazzola, J, Chávez-Lomelí, ER, Mondragón, MA, Rodríguez-Ceja, M, Martínez-Carrillo, MA. 2017. AMS 14C dating of materials recovered from the tunnel under the Temple of the Feathered Serpent in Teotihuacan, Mexico. Radiocarbon 59(2):545–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haynes, CV, Damon, PE, Grey, DC. 1966. Arizona Radiocarbon Dates VI. Radiocarbon 8:1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobsbawm, E. 1995. Age of extremes: the short twentieth century 1914–1991.Google Scholar
Hubbs, CL, Bien, GS, Suess, HE. 1962. La Jolla Natural Radiocarbon Measurements II. Radiocarbon 4:204–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hubbs, CL, Bien, GS, Suess, HE. 1963. La Jolla Natural Radiocarbon Measurements III. Radiocarbon 5:254–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, F. 1967. The prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley: chronology and irrigation. Vol. 4. Austin (TX): Robert S. Peabody Foundation, Phillips Academy, Andover, and University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Libby, WF. 1955. Radiocarbon dating. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
López Hernández, H. 2018. En busca del alma nacional. La arqueología y la construcción del origen de la historia nacional en México. INAH.Google Scholar
Mateos, G, Minor García, A. 2013. La red internacional de rayos cósmicos, Manuel Sandoval Vallarta y la física en México. Revista mexicana de física E 59(2):148–155.Google Scholar
Mielke, JE, Long, A. 1969. Smithsonian Institution Radiocarbon Measurements V. Radiocarbon 11(1):163–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minor García, A. 2016. Traducción e intercambios científicos entre Estados Unidos y Latinoamérica: El comité inter-americano de publicación científica (1941–1949). In: Aproximaciones a lo local y lo global: América Latina en la historia de la ciencia contemporánea. Centro de Estudios Filosóficos, Políticos y Sociales Vicente Lombardo Toledano.Google Scholar
Moreno, A. 1955. Determinación de la edad de la muestra: SP. 2 Tamaulipas México S.M. Canyon Infiernillo TM. C. 248 7 culture early portales. Revista Mexicana de Física 4(4):232–237.Google Scholar
Moreno, A. 1965. Proportional counting technique for low level C14 activities. Revista Mexicana de Física 14(1):1–16.Google Scholar
Moreno, A. 1990. Escuela de ciencias fisicomatemáticas. Boletín de la Sociedad Mexicana de Física 4(2):58–60.Google Scholar
Moreno, A, Archundia, C, Nava, A, Garza, DB. 1964. Construcción de un contador proporcional 2π de flujo, para conteo de emisión α en bajo nivel. Revista Mexicana de Física 13(1):39–53.Google Scholar
Moreno, A, Ramírez, E. 1961. Informe no. 2 sobre la radioactividad del aire en las bajas regiones de la atmósfera en las ciudades de Puebla y Monterrey. Revista Mexicana de Física 10(3).Google Scholar
Pearson, FJ, Davis, EM, Tamers, MA. 1966. University of Texas Radiocarbon Dates IV. Radiocarbon 8:453–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, FJ, Davis, EM, Tamers, MA, Johnstone, RW. 1965. University of Texas Radiocarbon Dates III. Radiocarbon 7:296–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noguera, E. 1963. La historia, la arqueología y métodos para computar el tiempo. UNAM.Google Scholar
Ramsey, CB. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Austin, WEN, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Blackwell, PG, Ramsey, CB, Butzin, M, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Hajdas, I, Heaton, TJ, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, Manning, SW, Muscheler, R, Palmer, JG, Pearson, C, van derPlicht, J, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Scott, EM, Southon, JR, Turney, CSM, Wacker, L, Adolphi, F, Büntgen, U, Capano, M, Fahrni, SM, Fogtmann-Schulz, A, Friedrich, R, Köhler, P, Kudsk, P, Miyake, F, Olsen, J, Reinig, F, Sakamoto, M, Sookdeo, A, Talamo, S. 2020. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62(4):725–757.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, W, Parsons, J, Santley, RS. 1979. The Basin of Mexico: the ecological processes in the evolution of a civilization. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Solís, C, Chávez-Lomelí, E, Ortiz, ME, Huerta, A, Andrade, E, Barrios, E. 2014. A new AMS facility in Mexico. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms 331:233–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solís, C, Martínez, MA, Rodríguez Ceja, MG, Chávez, E, Christen, JA. 2018. Datación del Códice Maya de México con radiocarbono y espectrometría de Masas con Aceleradores. In: Martínez del Campo Lanz S, editor. El Códice Maya de México, antes Grolier. INAH.Google Scholar
Solís, C, Martínez-Carrillo, MA, Rodríguez-Ceja, M, Chávez, E, Christen, J, Jull, AJT. 2021. AMS 14C dating of the Mayan Codex of Mexico revisited. Radiocarbon 62(6):1543–1550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solís, C, Pérez-Andrade, G, Rodríguez-Ceja, M, Solís-Meza, E, Méndez, T, Chávez-Lomelí, E, Martínez-Carrillo, MA, Mondragón, MA. 2017. AMS 14C dating of bones from archaeological sites in Mexico. Radiocarbon 59(6):1945–1954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solís, C, Rodríguez-Ceja, M, Chávez-Lomelí, E, Alcántara, A, Gazzola, J, Balcells, J, Jiménez, JC, Rosa, Y, Martínez-Carrillo, MA. 2020. 14C-AMS in Mexico and pre-Columbian archaeology. Radiocarbon 63(4):1115–1122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuckenrath, R. 1967. University of Pennsylvania Radiocarbon Dates X. Radiocarbon 9:333–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. 1969. Yale Natural Radiocarbon Measurements IX. Radiocarbon 11(2):545–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Deevey, ES, Gralenski, LJ. 1960. Yale Natural Radiocarbon Measurements V. Radiocarbon 2:49–61.Google Scholar
Tamers, MA, Pearson, FJ, Davis, EM. 1964. University of Texas Radiocarbon Dates II. Radiocarbon 6: 138–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villaruel, R. 2009. Un acercamiento a la historia de la arqueología prehistórica en México. Primera Década del Departamento de Prehistoria. Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México.Google Scholar