Researchers often ask which material is best for radiocarbon dating – bones or teeth. Based on our lab’s experience, either material can provide the best date. However, the environmental conditions for these materials should be taken into account during sample selection.
There are two possible reservoir corrections applied to a radiocarbon date for marine carbonates – the localized reservoir correction (DeltaR / DeltaRErr) and the global marine reservoir correction. The former is provided by the client to the lab before the analyses while the latter is part of the calibration program.
It is possible to date fired clay bricks, but it depends on how the bricks were manufactured and what types of contamination may have been absorbed into the bricks since they were put in place.
Just like sediment, it is better to date the macrofossils found in sand. In the absence of macrofossils, sand can be dated if there is an organic material on the surface of the sand. If there is enough carbon present in the organic coating, a radiocarbon date can be obtained.
What if there are several materials found in sediment (e.g. wood, charcoal, seeds) but each one does not meet the lab’s minimum sample size requirement, can a mixture of materials be dated?
We have dated beeswax, sometimes with good success, sometimes not. This is because no pretreatment for organic contaminants can be applied. Thus, if any younger or older carbon has been incorporated in the beeswax, it will be represented in the result.
In addition to conventional collagen extraction, ISO/IEC 17025:2017-accredited Beta Analytic now offers ultrafiltration of bone collagen in response to clients’ need for additional pretreatments specific to their research opinions and objectives.
