Prof Christopher Ramsey

Abstract:

Recent research at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) has shown that ultrafiltration of gelatin from archaeological bone can, in many instances, remove low molecular weight contaminants. These can sometimes be of a different radiocarbon age and, unless removed, may severely influence results, particularly when dating bones greater than two to three half-lives of 14C. In this study this methodology is applied to samples of Late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic age from the British Isles. In many instances the results of reclating invite serious reconsideration of the chronology for these periods. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract:

Radiocarbon (carbon-14) data from the Aegean Bronze Age 1700-1400 B.C. show that the Santorini (Thera) eruption must have occurred in the late 17th century B.C. By using carbon-14 dates from the surrounding region, cultural phases, and Bayesian statistical analysis, we established a chronology for the initial Aegean Late Bronze Age cultural phases (Late Minoan IA, IB, and II). This chronology contrasts with conventional archaeological dates and cultural synthesis: stretching out the Late Minoan IA, IB, and II phases by ∼100 years and requiring reassessment of standard interpretations of associations between the Egyptian and Near Eastern historical dates and phases and those in the Aegean and Cyprus in the mid-second millennium B.C.