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Dating resin coating on pottery: the Spirit Cave early ceramic dates revised

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

C.D. Lampert ,
I.C. Glover ,
R.E.M. Hedges ,
C.P. Heron ,
T.F.G. Higham ,
B. Stern ,
R. Shoocongdej  and
G.B. Thompson
C.D. Lampert
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, UK
I.C. Glover
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
R.E.M. Hedges
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Oxford University, UK
C.P. Heron
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, UK
T.F.G. Higham
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Oxford University, UK
B. Stern
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, UK
R. Shoocongdej
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
G.B. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, UK
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Abstract

Pottery found at Spirit Cave, Thailand, has been claimed as among the earliest ceramics in the world – a radiocarbon date of 7500 BP being obtained from associated charcoal. However radiocarbon dating of organic resin found on some of the sherds gave a date of around 3000 BP. This is another example of improved precision in dating by pin-pointing the context and using AMS. The authors describe how it was done and assess its validity

Keywords

Spirit Caveceramicsresinradiocarbon dating
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 77 , Issue 295 , March 2003 , pp. 126 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2003

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