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AMS RADIOCARBON DATING OF ANCIENT BONE USING ULTRAFILTRATION
Abstract
The Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) has used an ultrafiltration protocol to further purify gelatin
from archaeological bone since 2000. In this paper, the methodology is described, and it is shown that, in many instances,
ultrafiltration successfully removes low molecular weight contaminants that less rigorous methods may not. These contaminants
can sometimes be of a different radiocarbon age and, unless removed, may produce erroneous determinations, particularly
when one is dating bones greater than 2 to 3 half-lives of 14C and the contaminants are of modern age. Results of the
redating of bone of Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic age from the British Isles and Europe suggest that we may need
to look again at the traditional chronology for these periods.
from archaeological bone since 2000. In this paper, the methodology is described, and it is shown that, in many instances,
ultrafiltration successfully removes low molecular weight contaminants that less rigorous methods may not. These contaminants
can sometimes be of a different radiocarbon age and, unless removed, may produce erroneous determinations, particularly
when one is dating bones greater than 2 to 3 half-lives of 14C and the contaminants are of modern age. Results of the
redating of bone of Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic age from the British Isles and Europe suggest that we may need
to look again at the traditional chronology for these periods.