Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T22:49:46.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Reassessment of the Routine Pretreatment Protocol for Radiocarbon Dating Cremated Bones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2016

Christophe Snoeck ,
Richard A Staff  and
Fiona Brock
Christophe Snoeck*
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK. Current address: Research Unit: Analytical, Environmental & Geo-Chemistry, Dept. of Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, ESSC-WE-VUB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Richard A Staff
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK.
Fiona Brock
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK. Current address: Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield Defence & Security, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, SN6 8LA, UK.
*
*Corresponding author: Email: csnoeck@vub.ac.be.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the late 1990s, it was demonstrated that reliable radiocarbon dates could be obtained directly from cremated bone. Many 14C laboratories have since used a protocol for pretreating cremated (calcined) bones that consists of consecutive treatments with bleach and acetic acid to remove organic matter and extraneous or diagenetic carbonate, respectively. In most instances, the bleach used is sodium hypochlorite, although in recent years the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) has used acidified sodium chlorite instead. However, properly calcined (white) bones should not contain any organic material; hence, the bleach treatment is potentially unnecessary. This article describes studies investigating the effectiveness of bleach (and the specific bleach used) during pretreatment of calcined bone, and demonstrates that 14C dates on six cremated bone samples are statistically indistinguishable whether or not the initial bleach step is applied.

Keywords

pretreatmentcremated bonebleach
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 58 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 1 - 8
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Brock, F, Higham, T, Ditchfield, P, Bronk Ramsey, C. 2010. Current pretreatment methods for AMS radiocarbon dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU). Radiocarbon 52(1):103–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2013. OxCal ver.4.2.4 c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/oxcal/OxCal.html.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C, Higham, T, Leach, P. 2004. Towards high-precision AMS: progress and limitations. Radiocarbon 46(1):17–24.Google Scholar
Hüls, CM, Erlenkeuser, H, Nadeau, M-J, Grootes, PM, Andersen, N. 2010. Experimental study on the origin of cremated bone apatite carbon. Radiocarbon 52(2–3):587–599.Google Scholar
Lanting, JN, Brindley, AL. 1998. Dating cremated bone: the dawn of a new era. The Journal of Irish Archaeology IX:1–7.Google Scholar
Lanting, JN, Aerts-Bijma, A, van der Plicht, J. 2001. Dating of cremated bones. Radiocarbon 43(2A):249–254.Google Scholar
Lebon, M, Zazzo, A, Reiche, I. 2014. Screening in situ bone and teeth preservation by ATR-FTIR mapping. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 416:110–119.Google Scholar
Naysmith, P, Scott, EM, Cook, GT, Heinemeier, J, van der Plicht, J, Van Strydonck, M, Bronk Ramsey, C, Grootes, PM, Freeman, SPHT. 2007. A cremated bone intercomparison study. Radiocarbon 49(2):403–408.Google Scholar
Olsen, J, Heinemeier, J, Hornstrup, KM, Bennike, P, Thrane, H. 2012. “Old wood” effect in radiocarbon dating of prehistoric cremated bones? Journal of Archaeological Science 40(1):30–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Praprotnik, M, Janežič, D. 2005. Molecular dynamics integration and molecular vibrational theory. II. Simulation of nonlinear molecules. The Journal of Chemical Physics 122(17):174102.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Haflidason, H, Hajdas, I, Hatté, C, Heaton, TJ, Hoffman, DL, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kaiser, KF, Kromer, B, Manning, SW, Niu, M, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Scott, EM, Southon, JR, Staff, RA, Turney, CSM, van der Plicht, J. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1869–1887.Google Scholar
Roche, D, Ségalen, L, Balan, E, Delattre, S. 2010. Preservation assessment of Miocene-Pliocene tooth enamel from Tugen Hills (Kenyan Rift Valley) through FTIR, chemical and stable-isotope analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(7):1690–1699.Google Scholar
Snoeck, C, Pellegrini, M. 2015. Comparing bioapatite carbonate pre-treatments for isotopic measurements: Part 1 – Impact on structure and chemical composition. Chemical Geology 417:394–403.Google Scholar
Snoeck, C, Lee-Thorp, JA, Schutling, RJ. 2014a. From bone to ash: compositional and structural studies of burned bone. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 416:55–68.Google Scholar
Snoeck, C, Brock, F, Schulting, RJ. 2014b. Carbon exchanges between bone apatite and fuels during cremation: impact on radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 56(2):591–602.Google Scholar
Van Strydonck, M, Boudin, M, Hoefkens, M, De Mulder, G. 2005. 14C-dating of cremated bones, why does it work? Lunula 13:3–10.Google Scholar
Van Strydonck, M, Boudin, M, De Mulder, G. 2009. 14C dating of cremated bones: the issue of sample contamination. Radiocarbon 51(2):553–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Strydonck, M, Boudin, M, De Mulder, G. 2010. The carbon origin of structural carbonate in bone apatite of cremated bones. Radiocarbon 52(2–3):578–586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Strydonck, M, Decq, L, Van den Brande, T, Boudin, M, Ramis, D, Borms, H, De Mulder, G. 2013. The protohistoric ‘quicklime burials’ from the Balearic Islands: cremation or inhumation. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 25(4):392–400.Google Scholar
Yoder, CH, Pasteris, JD, Worcester, KN, Schermerhorn, DV. 2012. Structural water in carbonated hydroxylapatite and fluorapatite: confirmation by solid state 2H NMR. Calcified Tissue International 90(1):60–67.Google Scholar
Zazzo, A, Balasse, M, Patterson, WP. 2006. The reconstruction of mammal individual history: refining high-resolution isotope record in bovine tooth dentine. Journal of Archaeological Science 33(8):1177–1187.Google Scholar
Zazzo, A, Saliège, J-F, Lebon, M, Lepetz, S, Moreau, C. 2012. Radiocarbon dating of calcined bones: insights from combustion experiments under natural conditions. Radiocarbon 54(3–4):855–866.Google Scholar