The Lamoka Lake and Scaccia sites in present-day New York have played important roles in the development of archaeology in New York, and in the case of Lamoka Lake, in eastern North America. Lamoka Lake is the type site for the “Archaic” period in eastern North American culture history and the “Late Archaic” “Lamoka phase” in New York culture history. The Scaccia site is the largest “Early Woodland” “Meadowood phase” site in New York and has the earliest evidence for pottery and agriculture crop use in the state. Lamoka Lake has been dated to 2500 BC based on a series of solid carbon and gas-proportional counting radiometric dates on bulk wood charcoal obtained in the 1950s and 1960s. Scaccia has been dated to 870 BC based on a single uncalibrated radiometric date obtained on bulk charcoal in the early 1970s. As a result, the ages of these important sites need to be refined. New AMS dates and Bayesian analyses presented here place Lamoka Lake at 2962–2902 BC (68.3% highest posterior density [hpd])) and Scaccia at 1049–838 BC (68.3% hpd).

Past human population dynamics play a key role in integrated models of understanding socio-ecological change over time. However, little analysis on this issue has been carried out for the prehistoric societies in the Lower Danube and Eastern Balkans area. Here, we use summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates to investigate potential regional and local variation population dynamics. Our study adopts a formal model-testing approach to the fifth millennium BC archaeological radiocarbon record, performing a region-wide, comparative analysis of the demographic trajectories of the area along lower Danube River. We follow the current framework of theoretical models of population growth and perform global and regional significance and spatial permutation tests on the data. Specifically, we investigate whether populations on both sides of the Danube follow a logistic pattern of steady growth, followed by a major decline over time. Finally, our analysis of local-scale growth investigates whether considerable heterogeneity or homogeneity within the region may be observed over the time span considered here. The results show both similarities and differences in the population trends across the area. Our findings are showcased in relation to the cultural characteristics of the region’s 5th millennium BC societies, and future research directions are also suggested.

Lacquerwork technologies comprise multiple techniques depending on countries, time, and traditions. Carved Asian lacquers applied on wooden objects consist of multiple thin uncolored or pigmented layers spread over the surface. To radiocarbon (14C) date these types of objects, often only the wooden structure is used. Here we report on a set of carved lacquered objects that were dated based on stylistic form, 14C dating of the wooden structure and of the Asian lacquers. THM-Py-GC-MS and micro-Raman spectroscopy were used to confirm the molecular composition of the lacquers and helped assessing the pretreatment protocol. The lacquers analyzed contained between 20 and 50% wt carbon, thus 2–5 mg of sample were necessary for 14C dating. The dates obtained on wood and lacquers showed a reliable correlation. The results suggest that, in most cases, it is sufficient to sample a part of the lacquer layers to date an object. We advise to perform an acid pretreatment followed by a successive solvent immersion with an increasing polarity. Dating different components of a lacquered object can also help to understand previous restoration interventions that frequently occur for ancient lacquered objects. Ceramic, metallic, and other objects covered with Asian lacquers can also be dated using this approach.

Radiocarbon (14C) in natural samples undergoes changes due to variations in atmospheric CO2 resulting from anthropogenic activities. To analyze the variation of the 14C ratio in atmospheric CO2, deciduous tree leaves were collected in Gyeongju, a popular tourist city in South Korea. Leaf samples were collected from Prunus subg. Cerasus trees at five different sampling points throughout the city over 3 years (2018, 2020, and 2021). The 14C data of the samples were categorized into three groups (downtown, rural, and tourist sites) and analyzed for variations among the different years. The 14C ratio at downtown sites was stable after 2018, the rural site ratio increased between 2018 and 2020 and then decreased between 2020 and 2021, and the tourist site ratio increased after 2018. We theorize that the increased 14C ratio at the tourist site was caused by a decrease in tourism after 2018.

Sample materials such as sediments and soils contain complex mixtures of different carbon-containing compounds. These bulk samples can be split into individual fractions, based on the temperature of thermal decomposition of their components. When coupled with radiocarbon (14C) measurement of the isolated fractions, this approach offers the advantage of directly investigating the residence time, turnover time, source, or age of the different components within a mixed sample, providing important insights to better understand the cycling of carbon in the environment. Several laboratories have previously reported different approaches to separate radiocarbon samples based on temperature in what is a growing area of interest within the research community. Here, we report the design and operation of a new ramped oxidation facility for separation of sample carbon on the basis of thermal resistance at the NEIF Radiocarbon Laboratory in East Kilbride, UK. Our new instrumentation shares some characteristics with the previously-reported systems applying ramped oxidation and/or ramped pyrolysis for radiocarbon measurement, but also has several differences which we describe and discuss. We also present the results of a thorough program of testing of the new system, which demonstrates both the reproducibility of the thermograms generated during sample combustion, and the reliability of the radiocarbon measurements obtained on individual sample fractions. This is achieved through quantification of the radiocarbon background and analysis of multiple standards of known 14C content during standard operation of the instrumentation.

During the last two decades the radiocarbon (14C) dating of hydroxyapatite archaeological cremated bones has become standard practice. Various pretreatment procedures exist among different laboratories of which some include fixation of SO2 using “Sulfix” prior to CO2 reduction. Recently it was reported that the use of Sulfix may cause the resulting 14C age to be too old. Here we report on the use Sulfix at the Aarhus AMS Centre. Further, we report on an experiment designed to test alternatives for the use of Sulfix as a purification agent.

This study focuses on the chronology of King Den’s reign, the fifth ruler of the 1st Egyptian dynasty. A series of radiocarbon (14C) dates were established on archaeological material from several tombs at the Abu Rawash site, near Cairo, which comprises a complex of 12 monumental mud-brick mastabas. Modeling the 14C results enables us to estimate the date of King’s accession and to link this to the beginning of the 3rd Dynasty, i.e., to Egyptian state’s structuration. Through the application of OxCal software, sets of 14C results obtained from the same archaeological context have been summarized and compared with the precise state of our knowledge on the historical duration of this reign. These results place King Den’s accession between 3104 and 2913 BCE (2σ), with the more likely date being 3011–2921 BCE (1σ). The modeled temporal density thus obtained is based both on new contextualized 14C dates and on an updated reading of the historical information on his reign. This is a dynamic result, which can be refined as soon as we have more data to integrate into the model. Above all, this resulting model becomes a crucial chronological point to better determine the beginning of the Egyptian Old Kingdom.

The possibility to conduct new fieldwork projects in previously largely unexplored Iraqi Kurdistan during the past decade has reinvigorated research into the transformative fifth to third millennium BCE (Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age) in southwest Asia when human societies grew from small, autonomous villages to centralized states with urban centers. Major efforts to synchronize stratigraphic sequences from various sites in order to reach a consensus on archaeological periodization and to identify the absolute chronology of societal transformations necessarily focused on available datasets from Syria, Turkey, and Iran. However, increased understanding of differences in communities’ adoption, adaptation, or rejection of new forms of technologies and social organization demands the need for constructing region-specific absolute chronological models for comparative analysis. Such work is particularly challenging in the case of Iraqi Kurdistan where sites frequently have major hiatuses in occupation. The site of Kani Shaie (Sulaymaniyah Governorate) offers the rare opportunity to investigate the Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age with a largely uninterrupted sequence of occupation from ca. 5500 to 2500 BCE. This paper presents a series of fourteen radiocarbon dates, representing every archaeological period in this timeframe, as a first step toward the construction of a regional absolute chronology.

Regional offsets from Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon (14C) calibration curves are widely recognized for monsoon Asia and often hinder accurate 14C dating. In this paper, we explore the possible linkage between summer monsoon intensity and 14C offsets using tree-ring δ18O and 14C data from Thailand. We developed a 297-yr floating tree-ring δ18O chronology comprising seven teak log-coffin samples from the Ban Rai rock shelter site, northwestern Thailand. The outermost ring of our chronology was estimated to date from 358–383 CE, within a 95.4% (2σ) probability range, based on a total of 10 14C measurements that were wiggle-matched against a mixed calibration curve evenly weighted from the IntCal20 and SHCal20 curves. Backward trajectory analysis showed that an intensified (weakened) summer monsoon detected in a modern tree-ring δ18O chronology was most likely to be induced by increased (decreased) air mass transport from the tropical Indian Ocean, which is an area of intense upwelling where the 14C concentration is lower than the atmospheric 14C level. However, partly because of the limited sample size and dating uncertainty, the direct linkage between the tree-ring δ18O series and 14C records obtained from our teak log-coffin samples could not be statistically verified.

Here, we present the results of carbon isotope and elemental analysis of one-year-old Pinus Sylvestris L. needles collected in 2021 from 10 sampling sites in a highly populated and industrialized area of Poland. The needles were exposed to air pollution for one year. The chemical analysis of the samples was performed using different methods: radiocarbon analysis by accelerator mass spectrometry, stable isotope analysis using isotope ratio mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. Variations in the carbon isotopes and elemental composition of pine needles were due to a mixture of carbon dioxide originating from different sources such as households, vehicle traffic, and industrial factories.

Previous research on the Neolithic cist graves of the Western Alpine region—also known under the term Chamblandes type graves—mostly focused on sites located in western Switzerland and eastern France. For the adjacent Aosta Valley (Italy), only a little information is available. Within the framework of our research project, it was possible to identify about 120 stone cist graves from 10 sites in the Aosta Valley. Due to the lack of distinctive grave goods and missing absolute dating, however, their chronological position has been unclear until now. Here we present the first extensive series of radiocarbon dates from Neolithic stone cist graves of the Aosta Valley. We analyzed 31 human bone samples from four sites, and most dates indicate an unexpected early chronological position around the first half of the 5th millennium BCE, in particular, the site of Villeneuve, dating to 4800–4550 cal BCE. This identifies these burials from the Aosta Valley as belonging to the oldest known Neolithic cist graves of the Western Alpine region discovered so far. Altogether, our study provides new evidence allowing the first time to clarify the chronology of these sites and trace the evolution of this burial practice in the Western Alps.

Radiocarbon (14C) concentrations in the oceans are different from those in the atmosphere. Understanding these ocean-atmospheric 14C differences is important both to estimate the calendar ages of samples which obtained their 14C in the marine environment, and to investigate the carbon cycle. The Marine20 radiocarbon age calibration curve is created to address these dual aims by providing a global-scale surface ocean record of radiocarbon from 55,000–0 cal yr BP that accounts for the smoothed response of the ocean to variations in atmospheric 14C production rates and factors out the effect of known changes in global-scale palaeoclimatic variables. The curve also serves as a baseline to study regional oceanic 14C variation. Marine20 offers substantial improvements over the previous Marine13 curve. In response to community questions, we provide a short intuitive guide, intended for the lay-reader, on the construction and use of the Marine20 calibration curve. We describe the choices behind the making of Marine20, as well as the similarities and differences compared with the earlier Marine calibration curves. We also describe how to use the Marine20 curve for calibration and how to estimate ΔR—the localized variation in the oceanic 14C levels due to regional factors which are not incorporated in the global-scale Marine20 curve. To aid understanding, illustrative worked examples are provided.