Absolute Dating of Early Iron Objects from the Ancient Orient: Radiocarbon Dating of Luristan Iron Mask Swords

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1229-1238
Author(s):  
C Matthias Hüls ◽  
Ingo Petri ◽  
Helmut Föll
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Slag Inclusions ◽  
Metallurgical Analysis ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Production Period ◽  
Two Sides

ABSTRACTLuristan Iron Mask Swords have been recovered mostly from illegal diggings in the 1920s. The about 90 known objects are characterized by a disk-shaped pommel on the top of the handle with two mounted bearded heads on two sides. According to the similarity in form and radiocarbon (14C) measurements on two swords from museum collections, an overall short production period was assumed around 1000 BC (Moorey 1991; Rehder 1991). Here we present the results of metallurgical analysis and 14C measurements for three newly acquired Luristan swords, which were donated to the Royal Museums of Art & History, Brussels. Metallurgical analysis indicates an iron production via the bloomary furnace technique. Analyzed samples show large slag inclusions (Fayalite, Wüstite, glass) within a mostly ferritic and pearlitic iron. The carbon contents varied between 0.2 wt% to around 0.8 wt%). 14C measurements on thermally extracted carbon give 14C ages between 2800 BP–3360 BP (calibrated ∼1745 BC–900 BC). The reliability of the 14C measurements are discussed with respect to external (contamination during handling) and intrinsic contamination (e.g. fossil carbon sources during manufacture).

Absolute Dating of the Virje and Hlebine Sites

2021 ◽  
pp. 92-100
Author(s):  
Katarina Botić
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Bayesian Model ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Ams Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Cool Conditions

In this chapter the results of AMS radiocarbon dating of 26 charcoal samples from four sites are discussed. The primary aim was to explore the scope of (dis)continuity of temporally and functionally interconnected types of sites (settlement and iron production workshop). A Bayesian model was created based on the acquired data from excavated sites with three sequences in the model determined. The results show great accordance with the archaeologically based data, with some exceptions that are most probably a result of modelling strategy used. Contemporaneity of all four sites is mostly attested with a possible and very short temporal hiatus around AD 600. Occupation of workshop and residential areas at that time or slightly after may have been linked to the globally attested environmental change during the Bond 1 event when dry and cool conditions prevailed and which could have had an impact on bog iron formation processes.

scholarly journals Interpreting 14C Measurements on 3rd–4th Century AD Iron Artifacts from Nydam, Denmark

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1517-1529
Author(s):  
C Matthias Hüls ◽  
John Meadows ◽  
Andreas Rau
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Combustion Temperature ◽  
Peat Bog ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
Carbon Dissolution ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Common Effect ◽  
Iron Artifacts ◽  
Good Agreement

ABSTRACTRadiocarbon (14C) ages were determined for 10 iron samples from the war booty offering site in the Nydam peat bog (SE Denmark), and compared to archaeologically inferred periods of deposition. Additional 14C measurements were carried out for modern iron standards made with charcoal of known isotopic composition to evaluate possible effects of handling. Modern iron standards give depleted 14C concentrations, compared to the initial charcoal 14C composition, and may indicate carbon fractionation effects during carbon dissolution in the iron lattice. Further studies are needed to verify if this is a common effect during iron production. 14C dating of two swords and one ax head are in comparatively good agreement with expected deposition times and indicate only small old-wood effects. In contrast, 14C dating of iron rivets from the Nydam (B) oak boat proved difficult due to corrosion with siderite (FeCO3) and conservation with wax. A step-combustion procedure was applied, using a low (∼570–600°C) temperature prior to the high (∼970–1000°C) combustion temperature for carbon extraction, aiming to remove siderite and wax before collecting the original carbon dissolved in the iron lattice. Nevertheless, measured 14C ages of the iron rivets differ by about 200–300 years from the dendro-date of the Nydam (B) oak boat they belong to, indicating persisting aging effects (e.g. old-wood, contamination with fossil carbon added during iron making and/or handling prior 14C dating). Also, a possible recycling of older iron cannot be excluded.

scholarly journals Carbon Isotope Analysis of Land Snail Shells: Implications for Carbon Sources and Radiocarbon Dating

Radiocarbon ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 810-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn A Goodfriend ◽  
Darden G Hood
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Isotopic Fractionation ◽  
Land Snail ◽  
Land Snails ◽  
Shell Carbonate

13C and 14C analyses were performed on a series of modern Jamaican land snails in order to quantitatively determine the sources of shell carbon. A model of these carbon sources, the pathways by which carbon reaches the shell, and the fractionation processes involved are presented. The contribution of limestone to shell carbonate is variable but may comprise up to 33% of the shell. About 25–40% of shell carbonate is derived from plants and about 30–60% from atmospheric CO2. Variation among populations and species with respect to 13C and 14C is attributed to the effects of limestone incorporation, snail size (as it affects CO2 exchange rate), physiological characteristics (presence of urease, respiration rate), and activity patterns of the snails. A formula for correction for isotopic fractionation of 14C of shell carbonate, based on 13C measurements, is derived. Bicarbonate-aragonite fractionation is apparently very minimal. Shell organic carbon appears to be derived largely from plants but also to a lesser extent from inorganic hemolymph carbon. This introduces the possibility of a small age anomaly of shell organic 14C due to limestone incorporation.

Towards an absolute chronology for the Iron Age of Inner Asia

Antiquity ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 71 (274) ◽  
pp. 863-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Old World ◽  
Inner Asia ◽  
Absolute Dating

For half a century now — ever since radiocarbon dating began — there have been regional reconciliations between relative chronologies and the new absolute dating. Sometimes they have been friendly, some times less so when the two schemes have not matched well. For Inner Asia — centre of the Old World — there is belatedly now the means to resolve some fundamentals.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Soil 14C Data for Estimating Inert Organic Matter in the Rothc Model

Radiocarbon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 1079-1091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Rethemeyer ◽  
Pieter M Grootes ◽  
Sonja Brodowski ◽  
Bernard Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Specific Marker ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Rothc Model ◽  
Similar Good

Changes in soil organic carbon stocks were simulated with the Rothamsted carbon (RothC) model. We evaluated the calculation of a major input variable, the amount of inert organic matter (IOM), using measurable data. Three different approaches for quantifying IOM were applied to soils with mainly recent organic matter and with carbon contribution from fossil fuels: 1) IOM estimation via total soil organic carbon (SOC); 2) through bulk soil radiocarbon and a mass balance; and 3) by quantifying the portion of black carbon via a specific marker. The results were highly variable in the soil containing lignite-derived carbon and ranged from 8% to 52% inert carbon of total SOC, while nearly similar amounts of 5% to 8% were determined in the soil with mainly recent organic matter. We simulated carbon dynamics in both soils using the 3 approaches for quantifying IOM in combination with carbon inputs derived from measured crop yields. In the soil with recent organic matter, all approaches gave a nearly similar good agreement between measured and modeled data, while in the soil with a fossil carbon admixture, only the 14C approach was successful in matching the measured data. Although 14C was useful for initializing RothC, care should be taken when interpreting SOC dynamics in soils containing carbon from fossil fuels, since these reflect the contribution from both natural and anthropogenic carbon sources.

scholarly journals Fossil carbon sources of atmospheric methane

Nature ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 334 (6179) ◽  
pp. 201-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM M. SACKETT ◽  
TIMOTHY R. BARBER
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Fossil Carbon

scholarly journals ANALISIS PENTARIKHAN RADIOKARBON UNTUK PENENTUAN FLUKTUASI MUKA LAUT DI SEBELAH UTARA PULAU BANGKA

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Darwin Siregar ◽  
Kresna Tri Dewi
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Level Fluctuation ◽  
14C Dating ◽  
Bottom Part ◽  
Subsurface Sediments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Sea Level Fluctuation

Salah satu metode penentuan umur absolut batuan, fosil, sedimen atau artefak adalah menggunakan pentarikhan radiokarbon (C14) dari material organik. Data umur tersebut dapat berguna untuk menunjang berbagai penelitian terkait dengan sejarah bumi dan kehidupan manusia. Tujuan dari tulisan ini adalah untuk melacak fluktuasi muka laut berdasarkan data umur sedimen bawah dasar laut di sebelah utara Pulau Bangka. Hasil analisis pentarikhan radiokarbon terhadap tiga sampel sedimen menunjukkan dua umur yang berbeda. Sedimen dari bagian bawah (70-80 cm) dibawah dasar laut telah diperoleh umur 15.050± 60 SM dan 15.250 ±850 SM. Rentang waktu ini termasuk dalam segmen 2 pada saat laut naik sedang dari kedalaman -114 ke -96 m dari muka laut saat ini. Sedimen dari bagian atas (30 cm) telah diperoleh umur 6.500 ± 360 SM pada saat muka laut mendekati posisi sekarang. Studi ini memperlihatkan fluktuasi muka laut di wilayah lokal di sekitar Pulau Bangka. Katakunci: pentarikhan karbon, muka laut, Pulau Bangka One method for absolute dating of rocks, fossils, sediments or artefacts is by using radiocarbon dating (14C dating) of organic materials. This age data can be useful for supporting various researches related to the history of earth and human being. The purpose of this paper is to trace the sea level fluctuation based on subsurface sediments from northern part of Bangka Island. The radiocarbon dating from three sediment samples has resulted two different age. Sediments at the bottom part of the core (70-80 cm) below seafloor have been dated at 15.050 ± 60 BP and 15.250± 850 BP. It belongs to segment 2 when sea rose moderately from -114 to-96 m of the present-day sea level. The sediment at the upper part (30 cm) has been dated at 6.500 ± 360 BP when sea level as close as present-day position. This study shows sea level fluctuation in the local area off Bangka Island. Keywords: radiocarbon dating, sea level, Bangka Island

scholarly journals Shifts in 14C Patterns of Soil Profiles Due to Bomb Carbon, Including Effects of Morphogenetic and Turbation Processes

Radiocarbon ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 627-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Wilhelm Scharpenseel ◽  
Peter Becker-Heidmann
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Carbon Equivalent ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Alkaline Soils ◽  
Forest Clearing ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Soil Forming Processes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil Rejuvenation ◽  
Animal Transport

Principles contributing to changes and the final balance of rejuvenation in 14C dates of soil profiles are identified. The annual addition to the atmosphere of ca 5.5·1012kg of dead carbon from fossil carbon sources and 1.5·1012kg of older carbon from forest clearing make soil appear older. Bomb carbon and annual recycling of most of the 115·1012kg of terrestrial organic carbon, equivalent to the annual photosynthetic turnover of carbon, rejuvenates soil dates. This also applies to root growth, animal transport, and in acid or alkaline soils, to humus percolation. All available 14C dates of soil profiles were evaluated for the impact of bomb carbon. We also studied the effects of morphogenetic soil-forming processes, such as turbations, on soil rejuvenation. Bioturbation, as a general principle of soil dynamics, requires more differential treatment due to modern and bomb carbon that constitutes body carbon of earthworms as well as steadily increasing 14C age with depth in all Mollisols.

Dating Magdalenian Art in North Spain: The Current Situation

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
César González Sainz
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Lower Number ◽  
The Other ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequences ◽  
Cave Art

The graphic activity of Magdalenian human groups forms the most spectacular part of the archaeological record in Cantabrian Spain and, at the same time, represents probably the most expressive aspect of the culture of those Upper Palaeolithic hunters. Since the early 1990s, several projects have tried to fix more precisely the chronology of the cave art through the application of radiocarbon dating by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (Valladas et al. 1992, 2001; Moure Romanillo and González Sainz 2000; Fortea Pérez 2002). The present article attempts an integrated discussion of the results of the absolute chronology for Magdalenian cave art and the present situation of the most reliable parallels between this and the mobile art of the same period. It is well known that the ordering in time of cave art is rather more complex than that of decorated objects, which are dated by their archaeological context (and therefore both this context and the artefacts themselves can be dated by radiocarbon). In Cantabrian Spain, the approaches to dating cave art, especially for the Magdalenian depictions, are the series of superimpositions known on certain walls of a few caves, the analogy with stratified mobile art, and absolute dating, essentially for this period, radiocarbon dating by accelerator. Other procedures, such as the correlation with stratigraphic sequences, offer good results in pre-Magdalenian periods (Fortea 1994), but are limited in the period that interests us here to just a few cases, such as Cueva del Mirón, in relation with some rather modest depictions (González Morales and Straus, 2000). 1. Series of superimposed figures of different kinds have often been described, on panels in a limited number of cave sites. In Cantabrian Spain, the main examples are found in the caves of La Peña del Candamo, Tito Bustillo, Llonín, Altamira, El Castillo, La Pasiega, and La Garma Lower Passage—in other words, the main cave art centres, repeatedly used over long periods in the Upper Palaeolithic. These sites tend to differ quite clearly from the other cave art sites, which are more or less synchronic internally (they have a much lower number of depictions which, above all, are more homogeneous in style and techniques).

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Dating Problems Using Acetylene as Counting Gas

Radiocarbon ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mebus A Geyh
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Collaborative Study ◽  
Lithium Carbonate ◽  
High Price ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Storage ◽  
International Collaborative Study

An investigation of inconsistent Hannover results in the International Collaborative Study (ICS) led to the conclusion that the main reason was contamination of the acetylene used as counting gas with recent and/or fossil carbon by the lithium used for its preparation. Despite the high level of purity of the lithium guaranteed by the producer and storage under argon in cans, different charges were partly covered with contemporary lithium carbonate and fossil oil sometimes was used to preserve the metal. Thorough cleaning of the surface of the lithium rods decreased the contamination but did not remove it entirely, which is evidenced in the wider scatter of the counting rates of various background gases than that of radiocarbon-free tank acetylene. As a result of the high risk of contamination with fossil and/or recent carbon from the acetylene counting gas, the high price of lithium, and the time-consuming preparation, the Hannover 14C Laboratory will use carbon dioxide instead of acetylene as counting gas in the future.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document