Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T21:16:40.386Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Results for the British Beakers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Janet Ambers ,
Sheridan Bowman ,
Alex Gibson  and
Ian Kinnes
Janet Ambers
Affiliation:
Department of Scientific Research, British Museum, London WC1B 3DG, UK
Sheridan Bowman
Affiliation:
Department of Scientific Research, British Museum, London WC1B 3DG, UK
Alex Gibson
Affiliation:
Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust, Welshpool, Powys S42 7DL, UK
Ian Kinnes
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistoric and Romano-British Antiquities, British Museum, London WC1B 3DG, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The beginning of the Bronze Age in the British Isles has traditionally been marked by the appearance, in the archaeological record, of Beaker assemblages, mainly characterized by the Beaker pottery form itself. Ceramic typologies based on this style, which is undoubtedly continental in origin, have been used both for relative dating and as evidence of the social and economic developments of the period. Systematic radiocarbon dating has been attempted for the continental European Beaker material (Lanting, Mook & van der Waals 1973), but no such program has been carried out on British material. An examination of the existing radiocarbon results for the British Beakers showed many to be flawed in some way, particularly in the use of materials, such as mature wood, where there is no a priori reason for assuming a direct relationship between sample death and context. An attempt has been made at the British Museum to test the validity of archaeologically derived chronologies for the Beaker pottery of the British Isles. This involved analysis of a group of carefully selected human bone samples from Beaker burials, where there is a known direct association between ceramic usage and the cessation of carbon exchange. Twenty such samples have been identified and measured. The results presented here, combined with other previously produced determinations, show no obvious relationship between pottery style and calendar date of deposition.

Type
V. Archaeological Applications
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 34 , Issue 3: Proceedings of the 14th International Radiocarbon Conference , 1992 , pp. 916 - 927
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

References

Ambers, J., Matthews, K. and Bowman, S. 1989 British Museum natural radiocarbon measurements XXI. Radiocarbon 31(1): 15–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowman, S. G. E. and Ambers, J. C., in press, Past and present: The identification of an error in, and the present status of, radiocarbon dating at the British Museum. In Waterbolk, H. T. and Mook, W. G., eds., Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Archaeology and 14C. PACT. Google Scholar
Bowman, S. G. E., Ambers, J. C. and Leese, M. N. 1990 Re-evaluation of British Museum radiocarbon dates issued between 1980 and 1984. Radiocarbon 32(1): 59–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, D. L. 1970 The Beaker Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gillespie, R. 1989 Fundamentals of bone degradation chemistry: Collagen is not “the way.” In Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 13th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 31(3): 239–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
International Study Group 1982 An inter-laboratory comparison of radiocarbon measurements in tree rings. Nature 298: 619–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kinnes, I., Gibson, A., Ambers, J., Leese, M., Bowman, S., and Boast, R. 1991 Radiocarbon dating and British Beakers: The British Museum programme. Scottish Archaeological Forum 8: 000–000.Google Scholar
Lanting, J. N., Mook, W. G. and Waals, J. D. van der 1973 14C chronology and the Beaker problem. Helinium 13: 38–68.Google Scholar
Lanting, J. N. and Waals, J. D. van der 1972 British Beakers as seen from the continent. Helinium 12: 20–46.Google Scholar
Long, A., compiler, 1990 A quality assurance protocol for radiocarbon dating laboratories. In Scott, E. M., Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the International Workshop on Intercomparison of 14C Laboratories. Radiocarbon 32(3): 393–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, A., Wilson, A. T., Ernst, R. D., Gore, B. H. and Hare, P. E. 1989 AMS radiocarbon dating of bones at Arizona. In Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 13th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 31(3): 231–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mook, W. G. 1986 Business meeting: Recommendations/resolutions adopted by the Twelfth International Radiocarbon Conference. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2A): 799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, G. W., Pilcher, J. R., Baillie, M. G. L., Corbett, D. M. and Qua, F. 1986 High-precision 14C measurements of Irish oaks to show the natural 14C variations from AD 1840–5210 bc. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2B): 911–934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, G. W. and Stuiver, M. 1986 High-precision calibration of the radiocarbon time scale, 500–2500 bc. In Stuiver, M. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the 12th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 28(2B): 839–862.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, E. M., Aitchison, T. C., Harkness, D. D., Cook, G. T. and Baxter, M. S. 1990 An overview of all three stages of the International Radiocarbon Intercomparison. In Scott, E. M., Long, A. and Kra, R. S., eds., Proceedings of the International Workshop on Intercomparison of 14C Laboratories. Radiocarbon 32(3): 309–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Polach, H. J. 1977 Discussion: Reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3): 355–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M. and Reimer, P. J. 1987 User's Guide to the Programs CALIB and DISPLAY, Rev. 2.1. Quaternary Isotope Laboratory, University of Washington.Google Scholar
Tite, M. S., Bowman, S. G. E., Ambers, J. C. and Matthews, K. J. 1988 Preliminary statement on an error in British Museum radiocarbon dates (BM-1700 to BM-2315). Radiocarbon 30(1): 132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waterbolk, H. T. 1971 Working with radiocarbon dates. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 37: 15–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar