Oops, I Touched It Again: Debunking Myths and Misconceptions of Radiocarbon Dating Sample Collection

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Established field sample collection procedures have fostered misconceptions of the vulnerable nature of organic materials destined for radiocarbon dating. To address common contamination concerns and debunk these misconceptions, wood samples of known age were intentionally exposed to a variety of substances found in the field and the lab, including coffee, human hands, cleaning solvent, aluminum foil and low-density polyethylene film. Experimental samples were then subjected to a standard acid-base-acid (ABA) pretreatment protocol with the aim of examining the effectiveness of removing exogenous carbon. Results indicate that the standard procedure for the pretreatment of organic materials effectively removes common exogenous carbon contamination, and thus reduces handling and curation concerns after excavation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26248