Radiocarbon dating and wiggle matching of wooden poles forming circular structures in the 1st Millennium BC at the Mawaki archaeological site,central Japan

Wooden circular structures, presumed archaeologically as a structure related with ritual of ancient people in the Final Jomon period, are specific to archaeological sites excavated mainly in the coastal region around Noto peninsula, central Japan. So far, only few attempts have been made at chronological studies on these wooden structures. ¹⁴C dating has been attempted to wooden poles forming the structures, which had been excavated at the Mawaki archaeological site, Ishikawa prefecture, central Japan, to examine construction period of the structures. It was revealed that these structures were constructed in the Final Jomon period, most probably within 900–400 cal BC. In addition, we have tried wiggle matching of ¹⁴C ages for several annual rings separated from three and two poles that were constituting two circular structures, the oldest and the newest ones. ¹⁴C dates of annual rings measured with AMS were wiggle-matched to IntCal04 data sets by Bayesian statistics. The results indicated that the construction period of these wooden structures can be placed within ca. 820–680 cal BC, being narrowed by about 350 calendar years successfully.     

Provenance studies of obsidians from Neolithic contexts in Southern Italy by IBA (Ion Beam Analysis) methods

Obsidian samples recovered in archaeological contexts in Southern Italy were analysed by PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) and PIGE (Particle Induced Gamma Ray Emission) for the quantitative determination of both major and trace elements composition. The archaeological contexts were absolutely dated to the 5th millennium BC by mean of AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) radiocarbon dating analyses carried out on associated organic materials such as charcoal and human bones. The comparison of the compositional results obtained for the analysed samples with published data available for the known obsidian sources in the Mediterranean allowed to identify the sources of the raw material, giving an important contribution to the reconstruction of the ancient trade and exchange routes in Southern Italy prehistory.     

Comparative AMS radiocarbon dating of pretreated versus non-pretreated tropical wood samples

Several wood samples collected from Dorslandboom, a large iconic African baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) from Namibia, were investigated by AMS radiocarbon dating subsequent to pretreatment and, alternatively, without pretreatment. The comparative statistical evaluation of results showed that there were no significant differences between fraction modern values and radiocarbon dates of the samples analyzed after pretreatment and without pretreatment, respectively. The radiocarbon date of the oldest sample was 993 ± 20 BP. Dating results also revealed that Dorslandboom is a multi-generation tree, with several stems showing different ages.     

The AMS 14C dating of Iron Age rice chaff ceramic temper from Ban Non Wat,Thailand: First results and its interpretation

Pottery tempered with rice chaff from the early Iron Age cemetery of Ban Non Wat site, northeast Thailand, has been subjected to direct AMS ¹⁴C dating, using low temperature combustion with oxygen as originally developed by authors. The carbon yield (0.2–0.5%) testifies the suitability of this pottery for dating. However, not all the results are in agreement with expected archaeological ages and other ¹⁴C dates from the studied site and neighboring site of Noen U-Loke. This calls for a thorough analysis and interpretation of pottery temper dates from the region.     

14C dating of small archaeological samples: neolithic to iron age in the central alpine region

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ¹⁴C dating will widen enormously the range and scope of archaeological investigations. This is due mainly to 100- to 1000-fold sample size reduction over conventional dating. In order to determine the size and the quality of samples that can be accepted for AMS ¹⁴C dating, we have selected archaeological samples relating to the Neolithic to Iron Age. The basis of our AMS target preparations is the coking (pyrolysis) of organic matter after elimination of impurities by various physical and chemical treatments. The effect of the morphology as well as of the grain size distribution of the charcoal particles was determined in order to achieve optimal conditions for accelerator dating.     

前剂量饱和指数法测定中国瓷器年代

用前剂量饱和指数法测定了23件中国瓷器的年代,结果表明,热释光年代与考古年代在一个标准偏差为27％以内的一致性非常良好,这样的误差在瓷器的年代测定中是可以接受的。     

湖光岩砂石的释光剂量研究

采集湖光岩玛尔湖周围部分岩洞内的岩样及岩壁下和湖岸边的砂土样品,用粗颗粒法测量它们的热释光和光释光;用复合作用剂量响应模型分析热释光和光释光剂量响应,并计算对应的热释光和光释光古剂量。结果表明:相同采样点的样品,热释光和光释光古剂量间都存在一些差异;不同采样点样品的释光剂量相差很大;热释光古剂量测量值较准确的样品,光释光古剂量测量值与热释光测量值无显著的数量级差别。此测量分析对第四纪火山考古有一定参考意义。     

南海ZQ2孔和ZQ4孔晚更新世ESR年代学的研究

用沉积物中石英的Ｇｅ心进行了南海ＺＱ２孔和ＺＱ４孔的ＥＳＲ测年，并与其它地层学方法进行了对比研究。结果表明，ＥＳＲ年龄与其它方法测年的结果相吻合，这为南海北部珠江口盆地的第四纪地层划分提供了较为充分的依据。     

龙泉窑古陶瓷年代断定的中子活化分析和Bayes判别

为实现龙泉窑古陶瓷年代的准确判定,利用中子活化分析（NAA）方法准确测定了南宋-元(AD1127—1368)和明代(AD1368—1644)龙泉窑古瓷胎中La、Sm、U、Ce等18种元素的含量。为提高实验数据的可靠性,利用马氏距离准则排除实验数据的异常值,并对实验数据进行了正态分布检验。在一定的假设前提下,应用Bayes判别法用预处理的实验数据对样品进行年代判别。结果表明：明代69个古陶瓷样品全部正确归类,南宋-元时期96个古陶瓷样品仅有3个未能正确归类,全部样品归类的正确率为98.2%,说明NAA技术和Bayes判别法可望在古陶瓷的年代断定研究中发挥重要作用。     

蓝光释光测定瓷器年代的初步研究

用蓝光释光（BLSL）测定了唐代、南宋、元代、明（嘉靖）、清（乾隆）5只古代瓷器样品的年代，结果与已知瓷样的年代结果吻合得很好。本方法的优点是只要用一个瓷薄片就能测出瓷器的年代，不用作瓷器的热激活温度测定。其年代测定的范围大大超过热释光法测定瓷器的年限，在考古上具有重要意义。     

New radiocarbon data to study the history of roman and medieval Florence

Florence is a town worldwide known for its Renaissance masterpieces. It is often forgotten that it was founded during Roman times and remained a small village until the end of the early Middle Ages, practically confined within the ancient Roman boundaries. Since 2003, an extended archaeological research executed by the University of Sienna has studied the most ancient layers in the centre of Florence with the aim to enhance both the archaeological and paleo-environmental reconstruction of this area. One of the peculiarities of these excavations is that the early medieval layers were poor in datable ceramics, thus charcoals were sampled from different stratigraphic layers in order to contribute to the dating. Several data have already been published; here we focus on the excavation site of Palazzo Vecchio, now the seat of the municipality of Florence. This area is located close to the Arno river, along the eastern margin of the slightly elevated height upon which the Roman town was founded; actually, in the layers beneath the surface, the Roman theatre is still preserved.Radiocarbon dating of charcoals was performed in the LABEC laboratory in Florence, at the AMS beam line of the AMS-IBA 3 MV Tandetron accelerator.Comparison of these new data with the former ones and with the archaeological and geological data adds new information especially on natural phenomena like floods and on the human occupation of this area in the past.     

Study of Syrian archaeological pottery by the combined application of thermoluminescence (TL) dating, X-ray fluorescence analysis and statistical multivariate analysis

X-ray fluorescence method and the technique of thermoluminescence (TL) dating have been utilized for the study of archaeological pottery fragment samples, fairly representative of the Romanian period between 1st century B.C. and 4th century A.D., from Judaidet Yabous site, which is located north-west of Damascus city, Syria. Four samples were chosen randomly among the 46 samples for dating using thermoluminescence technique and the results were in good agreement with the date assigned by archaeologists. The samples were irradiated for 1000 s live time twice, first using a Mo X-ray Tube and second using a ¹⁰⁹Cd radioactive source. Fifteen elements (K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, and Pb) were determined. The elemental concentrations have been processed using two multivariate statistical methods. The purpose of the study was to characterize by means of element contents of the pottery paste from the Judaidet Yabous archaeological site and to provide new data to the Syrian databases for future studies. From an archaeological point of view the results indicated that most of the potteries were locally produced.     

Boat sampling and inservice inspections of the reactor pressure vessel weld No. 4 at Kozloduy NPP, Unit 1

The paper deals with reactor pressure vessel (RPV) boat sampling performed at Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1, from August to November 1996. Kozloduy NPP, Unit 1 has no reactor vessel material surveillance program. Changes in the material fracture toughness resulting from the fast neutron irradiation which cannot be monitored without removal of the vessel material. Therefore, the main objective of the project was to cut samples from the RPV wall in order to obtain samples of the RPV material for further structural analyses. The most critical area, i.e. weld No. 4 was determined as a location for boat sampling. Replication technique was applied in order to obtain precise determination of the weld geometry necessary for positioning of the cutting tool prior to boat sampling, and determination of divot depth left after boat sampling and grinding of sample sites. Boat sampling was performed by electrical discharge machining (EDM). Grinding of sample sites was implemented to minimize stress concentration effects on sample sites, to eliminate surface irregularities resulting from EDM process, and to eliminate recast layer on the surface of the EDM cut. Ultrasonic, liquid penetrant, magnetic particles, and visual examinations were performed after grinding to establish baseline data in the boat sampling area. The project preparation activities, apart from EDM process, and the site organization lead was entrusted to INETEC. The activities were funded by the PHARE program of the European Commission.     

Radiocarbon dating of ancient bronze statues: Preliminary results from the Riace statues

The low amount of material needed for the measurements makes AMS radiocarbon a technique suitable for the dating of ancient bronze artefacts through the analysis of the organic residues contained into the casting cores. We present the results of the AMS radiocarbon dating analyses carried out on the organic remains extracted from the casting cores of the Riace bronzes, among the most famous and well preserved sculptures of the Greek-Classical period. Although different dating hypotheses have been suggested on the base of stylistic considerations, no conclusive answers are, so far, available. The sample selection and preparation protocols of the different kind of organic materials (charred wood, vegetal remains and animal hairs) are described as well as the interpretation of the results in the frame of the current dating hypotheses and available analytical information about the casting technology.     

Analysis of ancient silver coins

Writing from the numismatist point of view, the authors open this paper by reviewing critically the use of scientific methods for the studies of ancient coins. They also report about an application of the PIXE method at low incident proton energy to one of the most celebrated and known coinage in the ancient history: the Athenian silver coins of the fifth century BC. The results of those analyses indicate that the metallic composition of several coins usually taken as ancient imitations of Athenian coins does not differ from that of the genuine ones. Those analyses confirm what the authors have inferred from numismatic sources: These coins are probably genuinely Athenian.     

Radiocarbon dating of charred human bone remains preserved in urns excavated from medieval Buddhist cemetery in Japan

For a preliminary test of ¹⁴C dating of cremated human remains, we have collected charred bone and wood–charcoal fragments from cremated remains contained in cinerary urns that had been excavated from medieval Buddhist cemetery at the Hoenji temple in Aichi prefecture, central Japan. More than 230 urn vessels were discovered from the excavated area of ca. 14 m wide and 14 m long. The identification of charred bone or charcoal fragments among the remains was performed by observation of surface appearance, inspection of fine structures by a microscope, bubble formation during the HCl treatments in preparing target material for AMS ¹⁴C dating, carbon and nitrogen contents, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of the fragments. All ¹⁴C ages obtained for the samples that were identified as charred bone remains were almost consistent with the archeological age estimated based on typological analysis of respective urns. On the other hand, some ¹⁴C ages for the remains identified as wood charcoal, which had been produced from firewood or a wooden coffin during the cremation, were not consistent with archeological estimation, shifting toward older ¹⁴C ages, most probably as the result of old wood effect.     

Dating stratified settlement sites at Kom K and Kom W: Fifth millennium BCE radiocarbon ages for the Fayum Neolithic

The earliest evidence of the use of domesticated plants, a traditional hallmark of Neolithic societies in the ancient Near East, first appears in Egypt in archaeological sites in the Fayum depression. Due to wind erosion often resulting in deflation of sediments in this region, stratified sites containing organic materials are rare and the depositional contexts of some earlier ¹⁴C measurements on Fayum Neolithic materials are not precisely documented. We report the results of 29 AMS-based ¹⁴C determinations on charcoal recovered from stratified contexts in two Fayum Neolithic village sites, Kom K and Kom W. These data assign a mid-5th millennium BCE age to these sites and permit an estimate of the length of their occupation to be approximately three centuries.     

安徽巢县银山古人类化石遗址年代的ESR研究

用ＥＳＲ测年方法研究了巢县银山古人类遗址第二、三、四层出土的四种动物牙齿化石的年龄，分别测出其埋藏年龄为２１２、３６１、３６３和４５６千年，由此可推测出第二层出土的古人类化石年龄应在２０万年左右。该结果与古人类学家和古生物学家用铀系不平衡和其它方法得出的结果进行了比较。     

ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE DATING FOR THE AGE OF PEKING-MAN, LOC.1, ZHOUKOUDIAN, BEIJING

In this paper, we used ESR dating method to measure the accumulative dose of the fossil teeth samples, which are contemporaneous with the Peking-Man. The internal annual dose rate of samples are got by neutron activation analysis and the environmental annual dose rate by highly sensitive TL dosimeters to be embedded in cave deposits in the site. The results of ESR dating are corresponded with the dating results obtained by U-series, FT, TL and paleomagnetic stratigraphical methods on the 3rd, 4th, 7th and 10th layers. Calculation of using different models, the close-equilibrium model, the linear uranium accumulation model and radon loss-linear uranium accumulation model, for travertine, deer teeth and rhinoceros tooth, we obtained the age of the First Peking- Man in the nth layer is 578 ka and gave ages of other layers, from the 1st to the 13th layer in Peking- Man site.