Calibration curve for the radiocarbon dating scale professional dating service london

Research during the last 60 years has allowed construction of an experimental calibration curve for the last 50 000 years.

Absolute and radiocarbon chronologies of various natural archives, such as trees (dendrochronology), provided a basis for the radiocarbon calibration curve.

The precision of a radiocarbon date tells how narrow the range of dates is.

There are two main factors which determine the precision of a radiocarbon date.

In Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), for example, the number of radiocarbon atoms in a stream of atoms coming from the sample is counted.

Thus there are statistical counting uncertainties proportional to the square root of the number of atoms counted.

Additional complexities, such as variations in marine reservoir effects, marine carbon in the diet, and regional offsets, require consideration.

Last modified 10-Feb-2020 15:19