Statistically limiting the error associated with old wood in archaeological dating: A case study from the Kuril Islands

Summary

This paper introduces a method for probabilistically narrowing carbon 14 date ranges on wood charcoal samples by computing the likelihood of selecting a specific tree-age in a random sample of charcoal. Archaeologists and others often build chronologies on fragments of wood that are of unknown age prior to the death of the tree. Here we examine a way in which these sources of error could be mitigated through statistical analysis of tree growth rings. As a case study we analyze specific tree species represented in samples collected by the Kuril Biocomplexity Project.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Arctic and Subarctic Coasts: Current Research and Modern Challenges

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14731