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Historic Lime-Mortar 14C Dating of Santa María La Real (Zarautz, Northern Spain): Extraction of Suitable Grain Size for Reliable 14C Dating

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Luis Angel Ortega ,
Maria Cruz Zuluaga ,
Ainhoa Alonso-Olazabal ,
Xabier Murelaga ,
Maite Insausti  and
Alex Ibañez-Etxeberria
Luis Angel Ortega*
Affiliation:
Geochronology and Isotope Geochemistry Unit, Mineralogy and Petrology Department, Science and Technology Faculty, The University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Maria Cruz Zuluaga
Affiliation:
Mineralogy and Petrology Department, Science and Technology Faculty, The University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Ainhoa Alonso-Olazabal
Affiliation:
Mineralogy and Petrology Department, Science and Technology Faculty, The University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Xabier Murelaga
Affiliation:
Stratigraphy and Palaeontology Department, Science and Technology Faculty, The University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Maite Insausti
Affiliation:
Inorganic Chemistry Department, Science and Technology Faculty, The University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain
Alex Ibañez-Etxeberria
Affiliation:
Social Sciences Department, Teacher Training School, The University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Plaza Oñati n° 3, 20018 San Sebastian, Spain
*
Corresponding author. Email: luis.ortega@ehu.es.
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Abstract

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This paper describes a method for effective separation of the pure binder fraction of lime mortars for reliable radiocarbon dating. The methodology allows removal of the detrital carbonate fraction and the unburnt limestone particles, obtaining particles of under 1 μm. The extracted fraction ensured that all carbonate has been generated by slaked lime carbonation. Consequently, the measured carbon corresponds to atmospheric carbon. The proposed method allows to obtain pure datable binder, simplifying considerably the performance of radiometric measurements because dating other grain-size fraction is unnecessary. In order to prove the effectiveness of binder refining, the extraction method has been applied to 5 lime mortars of different archaeological periods from the perimeter walls of Santa María la Real parish church (Zarautz, northern Spain).

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , 2012 , pp. 23 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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