In 1968, H. Quitta, J. Herrmann, G. Kohl and P. H. Thong initiated cooperation between the Archaeological Institute in Hanoi and the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory in Berlin. Since 1969, the Berlin 14C laboratory has measured 215 14C dates from 65 archaeological sites in Vietnam. As a result, important problems in Vietnamese archaeology have been recognized and partially solved with the aid of a secure chronological framework.

Two floating tree-ring chronologies were developed from oak timbers recovered during salvage excavations of a pre-Roman wharf in Este, a prominent center of the Veneti people, who lived in northeastern Italy during the Iron Age. Wiggle-match radiocarbon dating shows that one chronology spans the 10th and 9th centuries cal BC, and that the waterfront was probably built ∼800 cal BC. The second chronology apparently spans most of the 7th century cal BC, and is associated with a phase of construction about 2 centuries after the first. One of the samples gave what appeared to be anomalous 14C results that may best be explained as evidence of a short-term fluctuation in atmospheric 14C level, which can be seen in short-lived samples but is not apparent in the decadal or bidecadal calibration data. Both chronologies cover periods for which there are no other tree-ring chronologies in this region, and could become key to refining the local Iron Age chronology.

Determining the biocomponents in liquid fuels using radiocarbon radioisotope (14C) dating requires sample preparation adaptations to the conditions of the Gliwice Radiocarbon and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. Liquid scintillation counting (LSC), and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) were investigated using six samples, including one 14C-free fuel and modern hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). For AMS, samples were prepared using tin capsules for liquids for EA combustion and graphitization in an AGE system. For LSC, liquid fuels were prepared by mixing with purified preheated sand and a benzene synthesis line. Benzene resublimation was also tested. IRMS measurements were also conducted for benzene to account for isotopic fractionation. Sample background measurements using both methods showed good performances by both AMS and LSC without resublimation. Comparable results were also obtained for HVO.

As an alternative to the accelerator technique, a simple, compact, small counter system has been developed and tested for routine 14C dating. Our small counter is an all-metal design made of the OFHC copper with quartz supports for the anode (25μm stainless steel). Careful selection of materials for the counter construction was made based on the measurements of the alpha contamination. Methane as the counter filling gave better resolution and gas gain stability, whereas CO2 gave lower background counting rate and it was easier to prepare and to handle. The long term run using CH4 showed that the gas gain remained stable within 1–2% for months after the initial drop which followed the counter filling. A 7-day counting period was sufficient to achieve a 3% relative standard deviation which was considered acceptable for routine dating of younger samples.

The results presented in this list have been obtained by benzene synthesis and liquid scintillation counting: ages are calculated using the 14C half-life of 5570 yr with 0.95 activity of NBS oxalic acid as modern standard, with no correction. The given precision is obtained from a one-standard-deviation criterion.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating and paleoecological analysis of slope deposits at Mt Raizan provided seven 14C dates indicating that landslides occurred in that area at 6.0 to 6.3 cal ka BP and 6.5 cal ka BP. Plant macrofossils, pollen grains, and spores point to a mixed forest at that time, consisting of conifers and broad-leaved trees. On the other hand, insect fossil indicates slightly colder climate than that of the flora. This difference may be attributed to varied sensitivities of each proxy to climatic changes.

A standard heavy ion nuclear structure facility has been used to detect several long-lived radioisotopes by counting the accelerated ions. The problem of eliminating strong isobaric background beams has been solved by combining the energy loss dispersion through a uniform Al foil stack with the high momentum resolution of an Enge split-pole magnetic spectrograph. Radioisotope concentrations in the following ranges have been measured: 14C/12C = 10–12 to 10–13, 26Al/27Al = 10–10 to 10–12, 32Si/Si = 10–8 to 10–14, 36Cl/Cl = 10–8 to 10–11.

This study is on the absolute age dating of a multicultural site of Erenda, East Medinipur district, in coastal West Bengal, India. Charcoal samples were collected and measured using the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility at the Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India. These samples were collected from secured stratigraphic context of two excavated trenches. A careful collection of samples from two trenches provided us with the first calendar dates, 950 BCE and 1979 BCE, of protohistoric sites in coastal West Bengal. These calibrated calendar dates not only have wider significance in terms of archaeology but also methodological implications to understand the relevance of application of AMS from the dynamic coastal landscape in the humid tropics during the late Holocene period.

In the absence of wood, bone, and other organics, one possible candidate for determining the age of a site is the radiocarbon (14C) dating of pottery. In central Europe during the Early Neolithic, pottery was ubiquitous and contained substantial quantities of organic temper. However, attempts at the direct dating of organic inclusions raises a lot of methodological issues, especially when several sources of carbon contribute to the resulting radiocarbon age. Hence an alternative approach to dating of the early pottery is necessary. Here, we present a novel method of bulk separation of organic content from the grass-tempered pottery from Santovka (Slovakia). The procedure is based on the consecutive application of three inorganic acids, dissolving clay, silica content, and low molecular or mobile fractions to separate organic inclusions added to the pottery matrix during the formation of vessels. Radiocarbon dates obtained with this method are coherent and produce the shortest time span compared to other pretreatment methods presented in this study. The paired dates of grass-tempered pots with the 14C age of lipids extracted from the same pots point to a difference of 400–600 14C yr, however they are in line with the site’s chronostratigraphic Bayesian model. Grass-tempered pottery from Santovka (Slovakia) is dated to the first half of the 6th millennium cal BC, making it the earliest pottery north of the Danube. It seems feasible that ceramic containers from Santovka were produced by hunter-gatherers, and pottery predated the arrival of farming in the Carpathian region by a couple of centuries.

The dates in this list follow, in approximately chronologic order, those reported in Harwell III (R, 1979, v 21, p 358–383). It is confined to archaeologic samples from the United Kingdom only, most of which originate from “rescue” type operations supported by the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, (formerly a section of the Dept. of the Environment) and submitted through the Ancient Monuments Laboratory, London.

We report results of a three-year intercomparison experiment between the WHOI Radiocarbon Laboratory (now at University of California, Irvine) and the NSF-University of Arizona AMS Laboratory. The purpose of this study was to compare high-precision measurements of samples obtained routinely using gas proportional counting techniques with results obtained using AMS techniques. Three sets of annually banded, modern coral samples were used for the intercomparison. Each sample was acidified to CO2 at WHOI and split into two fractions. The larger fraction was converted to acetylene gas and counted at WHOI in quartz, gas-proportional beta counters. The smaller fractions were converted to graphite and analyzed for 14C using AMS techniques at the University of Arizona. Results of the three sample sets are presented. Except for a single outlier, the data from the two laboratories are in good agreement. Of the 13 samples in the third set of the intercomparison, for which a new high-intensity ion source was in operation at the Arizona AMS laboratory, agreement of results is excellent. This finding indicates that measurements made with precisions of < 3% are reproducible at both laboratories.

The sets of core samples were distributed to over 120 laboratories that had returned an original questionnaire seeking expressions of interest in participation. A reporting format for the results was also agreed and distributed to the laboratories at the same time. This is shown in Table 2.1. Laboratories were originally given 1 yr (i.e., to August 2000) to complete the analyses and return the results, but this was later extended to December 2000. In this section, we briefly describe the laboratory characteristics and the overall response rate of the participating laboratories.

Samples reported in this date list are primarily geologic specimens collected from coastal locations in South Carolina and Florida. Sample material was predominantly shells, with emphasis on single shell dates rather than multiple shell dates. Archaeologic samples from sites either directly above or adjacent to the geologic sampling location were collected whenever possible to provide an upper time limit on the shell deposits.

In 2001, five French public organizations (CNRS, CEA, IRD, IRSN, and the Ministère de la Culture) signed an agreement to purchase a new accelerator mass spectrometer to provide radiocarbon dating services at the national level. The Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone 14 (LMC14) was set up in Saclay (France) around ARTEMIS, an AMS system based on a 3MV Pelletron from NEC and installed in early 2003. In 2015, the LMC14 joined the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, making it possible to develop research projects in addition to the service activity and since 2021, the LMC14 has been a member of the IAEA Collaborating Centre “Atoms for Heritage” at the Université Paris-Saclay. Since 2003, 70,000 samples have been measured. Two-thirds of the samples have been prepared on site and one-third in two associated laboratories in Paris and Lyon. Over the past years, the LMC14 has participated in several international inter-comparisons and has continuously improved its capabilities by developing new protocols for preparation and measurement. In this paper, the radiocarbon dating services of the last 20 years for research institutions, museums and environmental monitoring are reviewed and recent results from environmental and archaeological research programs are highlighted.

The article presents the results of the absolute dating of 31 pre-Columbian funerary bundles excavated on the Cerro Colorado site located in the northern part of the Peruvian Central Coast, where the Chancay culture developed in the last centuries before the Spanish invasion. The typical custom in this region was to wrap the dead with textiles and a vegetal material, by which the bundle was created. The funerary bundles of the Cerro Colorado differed in terms of the complexity, quantity and quality of the materials used (especially textiles and metal ornament). Before our project, there was not a single radiocarbon (14C) date for an undisturbed Chancay tomb, which made it impossible to understand the temporal dependency between the elaborated, standard, and modest bundles. Our results finally shed light on their proper chronological position, also demonstrating that the most elaborate bundles were created between the 13th and 15th centuries.

Age disparities between charcoal samples and their context are a well-known problem in archaeological chronometry, and even small offsets could affect the accuracy of high-precision wiggle-matched dates. In many cases of taphonomic or anthropogenic loss of the outermost rings, sapwood-based methods for estimating cutting dates are not always applicable, especially with charcoal. In these instances, wiggle-matched terminus post quem (TPQ) dates are often reconciled with subjective or ad hoc approaches. This study examines the distribution of age disparities caused by ring loss and other factors in a large dendroarchaeological dataset. Probability density functions describing the random distribution of age disparities are then fit to the empirical distributions. These functions are tested on an actual wiggle-matched non-cutting date from the literature to evaluate accuracy in a single case. Simulations are then presented to demonstrate how an age offset function can be applied in OxCal outlier models to yield accurate dating in archaeological sequences with short intervals between dated episodes, even if all samples are non-cutting dates.

This list includes results of measurements made during 1973-1974 and 1975 in the Natural Radiocarbon Laboratory of the Centre de Recherches Radiogéologiques de Nancy (CRR).

Bone points were one of the major hunting implements in northern European hunter-gatherer societies. They differ in shapes, types, and manufacturing techniques. In this paper, we investigate 22 bone points from the territory of Lithuania, by studying their morpho-technological characteristics, direct dates, and adhesive residues. The majority are isolated finds, but four points were selected from excavated archaeological sites dated between the 5th and 3rd millennia cal BC. Most of the points belong to the barbed points category, but six slotted points were also studied. Of the 22, 16 previously undated points were sampled for accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating. The results of 10 successfully dated samples are discussed together with previously published 14C dates of bone points from the same region. ATR-FTIR analysis of adhesive residues from six points suggest that birch bark tar was used to haft barbed points and lithic inserts. The results reveal the diversity of types of Early Holocene bone points in the territory of Lithuania, while the slotted and Kunda-type bone points fall into narrow timeframes.