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Further Radiocarbon Dates from the Catacombs of St. Callixtus in Rome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Leonard V Rutgers*
Affiliation:
Institute of History, Utrecht University, Drift 10, 3512 BS Utrecht, the Netherlands
Klaas van der Borg
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, POB 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
Arie F M de Jong
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Utrecht University, POB 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, the Netherlands
Constance van der Linde
Affiliation:
Institute of History, Utrecht University, Drift 10, 3512 BS Utrecht, the Netherlands
Jelle Prins
Affiliation:
Kraaipanstraat 36, 1091 PL Amsterdam, the Netherlands
*
Corresponding author. Email: Leonard.Rutgers@let.uu.nl
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Abstract

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This paper reports a further chronological assessment of the Christian catacombs of Rome by radiocarbon-dated organic materials in the so-called Liberian region of the catacombs of St. Callixtus on the Appian Way. 14C dates of various types of organic material are discussed and related to ages derived from numismatic evidence and epigraphic remains. The results show that this area of the catacombs of St. Callixtus is older than assumed by previous scholarship. We therefore conclude that the appellation “Liberian region” is a misnomer.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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