Abstract
Because hard tissues can be radiocarbon dated, they are key to establishing the archaeological chronologies, palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and historical-biogeographical processes of the last 50,000 years. The advent of accelerator mass spectrometers (AMS) has revolutionized the field of archaeology but routine AMS dating still requires 60–200 mg of bone, which far exceeds that of small vertebrates or remains which hold a patrimonial value (e.g. hominid remains or worked bone artefacts). Here, we present the first radiocarbon dates obtained from minute amounts of bone (3–60 mg) using a MIni CArbon DAting System (MICADAS). An optimized protocol allowed us to extract enough material to produce between 0.2 and 1.0 mg of carbon for graphite targets. Our approach was tested on known-age samples dating back to 40,000 BP, and served as proof of concept. The method was then applied to two archaeological sites where reliable dates were obtained from the single bones of small mammals. These results open the way for the routine dating of small or key bone samples.
Highlights
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The advent of accelerator mass spectrometers (AMS) has revolutionized the field of archaeology but routine AMS dating still requires 60–200 mg of bone, which far exceeds that of small vertebrates or remains which hold a patrimonial value
Hard tissues found in the fossil record have a tremendous informative potential relevant to the fields of archaeology, palaeoecology and the history of art and technology. Because they can be identified to the species level and radiocarbon dated, these fossil remains are key to establishing the archaeological chronologies, palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and historical-biogeographical processes of the last 50,000 years
Summary
Polynesians to New Zealand was dated using the commensal Pacific rat as a proxy[20], and the time scale of the collared lemming’s (Dicrostonyx spp.) recolonization of Eurasia and North America was established through direct bone dating[21]. The effect of the blank correction on 14C results increases exponentially as samples decrease in size For these reasons, AMS dating using a very small graphite (
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