How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia
Archaeological chronologies use many radiocarbon (14C) dates, some of which may be misleading. Strict 'chronometric hygiene' protocols, which aim to enhance the overall accuracy and precision of14C datasets by removing all potentially problematic samples, mean that so few dates remain in s...
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ftunivwollongong:oai:ro.uow.edu.au:smhpapers1-1158 2023-05-15T16:39:07+02:00 How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia Schmid, Magdalena M Dugmore, Andrew Foresta, Luca Newton, Anthony Vesteinsson, Orri Wood, Rachel 2018-01-01T08:00:00Z https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers1/157 unknown Research Online https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers1/157 Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B article 2018 ftunivwollongong 2021-08-23T22:24:17Z Archaeological chronologies use many radiocarbon (14C) dates, some of which may be misleading. Strict 'chronometric hygiene' protocols, which aim to enhance the overall accuracy and precision of14C datasets by removing all potentially problematic samples, mean that so few dates remain in some locations that accurate chronologies cannot be established.14C dates on charcoal can be affected by an 'old-wood' effect, and so they are often removed from analyses, despite >40,000 being available worldwide, representing > $25 million. We show that when a Bayesian chronological model is used, which incorporates an Outlier Model specific to wood charcoal, the14C dataset of Iceland's Viking Age settlement agrees well with ice core-dated tephrochronology and written sources. Greatest accuracy comes from an even temporal distribution of14C dates and more dates lead to greater precision (years). This shows how charcoal-based14C chronologies can pinpoint the transformational human settlement of islands in the Atlantic, Oceania, and elsewhere. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core Iceland University of Wollongong, Australia: Research Online |
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Open Polar |
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University of Wollongong, Australia: Research Online |
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ftunivwollongong |
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unknown |
description |
Archaeological chronologies use many radiocarbon (14C) dates, some of which may be misleading. Strict 'chronometric hygiene' protocols, which aim to enhance the overall accuracy and precision of14C datasets by removing all potentially problematic samples, mean that so few dates remain in some locations that accurate chronologies cannot be established.14C dates on charcoal can be affected by an 'old-wood' effect, and so they are often removed from analyses, despite >40,000 being available worldwide, representing > $25 million. We show that when a Bayesian chronological model is used, which incorporates an Outlier Model specific to wood charcoal, the14C dataset of Iceland's Viking Age settlement agrees well with ice core-dated tephrochronology and written sources. Greatest accuracy comes from an even temporal distribution of14C dates and more dates lead to greater precision (years). This shows how charcoal-based14C chronologies can pinpoint the transformational human settlement of islands in the Atlantic, Oceania, and elsewhere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Schmid, Magdalena M Dugmore, Andrew Foresta, Luca Newton, Anthony Vesteinsson, Orri Wood, Rachel |
spellingShingle |
Schmid, Magdalena M Dugmore, Andrew Foresta, Luca Newton, Anthony Vesteinsson, Orri Wood, Rachel How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia |
author_facet |
Schmid, Magdalena M Dugmore, Andrew Foresta, Luca Newton, Anthony Vesteinsson, Orri Wood, Rachel |
author_sort |
Schmid, Magdalena M |
title |
How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia |
title_short |
How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia |
title_full |
How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia |
title_fullStr |
How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia |
title_full_unstemmed |
How 14 C dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: The examples of Iceland and Polynesia |
title_sort |
how 14 c dates on wood charcoal increase precision when dating colonization: the examples of iceland and polynesia |
publisher |
Research Online |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers1/157 |
genre |
ice core Iceland |
genre_facet |
ice core Iceland |
op_source |
Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: Part B |
op_relation |
https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers1/157 |
_version_ |
1766029446519717888 |