A06_01

The relevance of carbon dating for the study of Oriental manuscripts and the history of the Qurʾān

Marx M¹

¹Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Potsdam, Germany

Since 2013 the research project “Corpus Coranicum” of Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities has carried out – in close collaboration with ETH Zurich – carbon dating of Oriental manuscripts (Arabic, Ancient South Arabian, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac) written on paper, papyrus, parchment and wooden palm sticks (Yemen) from collections in Europe and the Middle East. In the talk, an overview of this first systematic application of scientific measurements in the field of Oriental philology is presented. In the second part, the contribution of carbon dating results to the study of Oriental manuscripts and palaeography is discussed. We will describe also different positions of scholars in Arabic philology toward this established dating technique and its somewhat reluctant reception. In the third part, two recurrent types of problems encountered during our measurements campaign are presented: (1) divergent measurements from one and the same sample, (2) divergent measurements from different pages of one and the same manuscripts. In the fourth and final part, with regard to obtained measurements of manuscripts ms.or.fol. 4313 (Berlin), Cod. or. 14.545 a/b/c (Leiden), DAM 01-27.1 (Sanaa), DAM 01-29.1 (Sanaa) and Ma VI 165 (Tübingen), we will suggest an earlier chronology of Qurʾānic script styles (palaeography). Based on carbon dating, material evidence for the history of the Qurʾān can be traced back to middle of the 7th century, chronologically close to the proclamation of the Qurʾān (between 610 and 632 CE according to Muslim scholarly tradition).

A06_02

The Common Thread: Authenticating a Nazca tunic using combined dye analysis by LCMS and radiocarbon dating on a single fiber

Hendriks L¹,  Haghipour N^3,4, Chen V², Holden A², Smith G²

¹School Of Engineering And Architecture Of Fribourg, Switzerland, ²Conservation Science Laboratory, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields,, Indianapolis , USA, ³Geological Institute, ETH-Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland, ⁴Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Accessioning historic textiles into museum collections often requires objective information regarding the object’s appropriateness and authenticity before being accepted.  In the case of dyed fibers, evidence of period appropriate dyestuffs builds confidence and reduces the chances of the object being a simple fake produced using modern materials.  Increasingly, objective age estimates in the form of radiocarbon (14C) dating are needed to further prove that the naturally occurring materials match the purported date of the textile.  Each of these techniques are destructive requiring a small sample of the object, and are typically conducted separately by different laboratories on individual samples. 

In 2020, the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields sought to acquire a Nazca dyed camelid wool tunic dated to the period 100 BCE – 600 CE.  Because of the supple feel and excellent condition of the artifact, concerns were raised over its purported age.  Museum curators and conservators requested an investigation of the object’s materials. This report demonstrates for the first time the sequential, combined analysis of dyes by liquid chromatography-diode array detection-mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-MS) and subsequent ¹⁴C dating of the same extracted fibers.  Reusing the extracted fibers for radiocarbon dating reduced the risk of additional damage to the textile. The analysis confirmed that the wool fibers were dyed with common Peruvian dyestuff (indigo blue, purpurin red, quercetin yellow) and the ¹⁴C results placed the object between 550 and 650 CE.  Based on these confirmatory findings, the Nazca tunic was accessioned into the collection in 2021.

A06_03

Carbon Dating versus Philology? Convergence of evidence for the dating of manuscripts of Central Library of the University of Tehran

Aghaei A¹

¹Paderborn University, Paderborn , Germany

This talk presents carbon dating results of manuscripts kept by the Central Library of the University of Tehran carried out in my project “Irankoran” in 2019. Analysed manuscripts include (1) the Arabic dictionary Muǧmal al-Luġah of Ibn Fāris (d. 1004CE), (2) the Encyclopaedia of Medicine Ḏaḫīra-ye Khwārazmšāhī of al-Ǧurǧānī (d. 1137CE), (3) the epos Panǧ Ganǧ of Neẓāmī (d. 1209CE), (4) a collection of aphorisms, Ādāb al-Falāsifah, attributed to Ḥunayn b. Isḥāq (d. 873CE) and (5) one of the oldest extant copies of the (Zoroastrian) Avesta Wīdēwdād (dated to 1607CE). As dates of these documents are disputed among scholars, carbon dating provides evidence to understand their history from a new perspective, independent from philology. Carbon age results in the case of the five documents show that dates of scribal notes (colophons) present accurate dates for their production. In the case of Ḏaḫīra-ye Khwārazmšāhī, samples were taken from two different pages with dramatically different results: 870,20BP (corresponding the scribal note) against 163,20BP. Triggered by these conflicting results, a study of script styles and linguistic features has found indicators that the text of the page in question is not authentic, confirming obtained carbon dating measurements. Probably, this page was produced and added during the 19th century to replace a damaged page of Ḏaḫīra-ye Khwārazmšāhī. For all five cases presented in the talk, the correlation of scientific evidence and philological features is discussed. In conclusion an outlook is given how this first mesuring campaign in Iranian collections can be developed.

A06_04

Unraveling the history of a Venetian antiphonary.

Rzadeczka - Juga I¹,  Zurbach D¹, Juga P², Nadeau M¹, Løvstrand Svarva H¹, Seiler M¹, Grootes P¹

¹The National Laboratory for Age Determination, NTNU University Museum, Trondheim, Norway, ²Ringve Music Museum, Trondheim, Norway

Complex objects such as old books contain many materials: paper, ink, cardboard, leather, parchment, strings, glues, and metal buckles. Each of which can provide clues to the origin and history of the object.

We present the results of a multifaceted study of an antiphonary – a liturgical song book – presumed to be made in Venice in 1607, now in the Ringve Music Museum in Trondheim, Norway. The book is hand-sewn on raised cords, bound in full leather on cardboard covers originally with metal clamps. The paper block consists of printed pages in black and red ink that include both song texts and music scores. The antiphonary shows several signs of repair including the possibility of re-binding. Different analyses were carried out with emphasis on non-destructive methods. The aim of the project being to confirm the printing date, and possibly its origin, and to document repairs and modifications through the ages.

Both classical and modern methods were used. The origin of the leather, threads and strings were determined by optical microscopy. The elemental compositions of the metal buckle and pigments were established using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The glues used in the spine and for repairs were studied by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) in the hope to identify the collagen source used. Finally, all organic materials were radiocarbon dated, some multiple times to assess the variability of the materials, leading to the reconstruction of the history of this beautiful object.

A06_05

An original contribution to document some Khmer bronze statues : analysis and radiocarbon dating of their iron backbone

Delque-kolic E¹,  LEROY S², VEGA E², VINCENT B³, McGILL F⁴, FENN M⁴, CREANGE S⁵

¹LMC14/LSCE/CNRS, Gif Sur Yvette, France, ²LAPA-IRAMAT/CNRS, Gif Sur Yvette, France, ³EFEO, Siem Reap, Cambodge, ⁴Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, United States, ⁵Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

In 1964, a set of 53 Buddhist bronze statues were discovered at Prakhon Chai (Buriram province, Thailand) without any indication of the origin of the statues nor the reason of their presence. The stylistic study of some of them suggested that they could have different geographical origins within a chronology ranging from the seventh to the ninth century. Such a hoard constitutes an invaluable source of historical information that is worth investigating beyond the stylistic assessment. Yet all the statues were lost-wax cast in copper alloy and reinforced with internal iron armatures for the largest ones. As demonstrated for several years by the authors, a methodological approach combining metallographic observations, chemical analysis of slag inclusions and radiocarbon dating of the iron can deliver technological and chronological outcomes. As part of the IRANGKOR project, which focuses on the production and use of iron in the areas of Cambodia and northeastern Thailand, we then proposed to focus on the iron made armatures that are not used to be considered as a critical data for that kind of art object.

We will present the approach specifically developed for the ¹⁴C dating of such valuable objects and the decisive results obtained for four bronze statues from the Prakhon Chai hoard. Beyond the expected comparison with the chronology that has been suggested from stylistic indicators, the radiocarbon dates are also intended to be reinvested in a broader framework of comparison of data, by confronting them with the metallurgical observations previously obtained within the IRANGKOR project.

A06_06

Geochronology ¹⁴C applied to organic coatings of musical instruments and other modern Heritage objects

Durier M¹,  Hatté C^2,3, Vaiedelich S¹

¹Équipe Conservation-Recherche, Musée de la Musique – CNRS : UAR3224, Centre de recherche sur la conservation, Paris, France, ²Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement - CEA, CNRS, UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, ³Institute of Physics – CSE, Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

Musical instruments present a complex materiality as an object of art and (musical) uses. Their constitutive parts underwent successive undocumented interventions for playing purposes, alterations and restorations. The varnish, traditionally preserved through time, is also a testimony of the material history of the instrument with undatable interventions using conventional museum techniques such as stylistic studies, dendrochronology, etc.

An innovative study based on advanced technology in ¹⁴C geochronology, combining historical documentation and material characterization analyses, has been applied to modern musical instruments and other modern Heritage objects (16th-19thc.). The organic coatings were micro-sampled (from 0.2 to 5.4 mg) layer by layer using micro-scalpels in order to separately date the original layers and later interventions.

Here, we present some case studies to illustrate the information highlighted on the making period, the making processes and the use(s) of the Heritage objects. For example, the case study of a qin (no. 276, CNAM, Paris) unraveled the storage of the wooden support, the presence of malachite in the underlaying black lacquer and the making period has been clarified thanks to the ¹⁴C dating of the upper red lacquer. The impact of restoration products from 20th-c. museum interventions has also been evaluated on early 18th-c. horse-drawn carriages (no. TR1868, RMAH, Brussels and CMV64.002, MNVT, Compiègne).

This study shows that the more curate historical and material descriptions, the more suitable the protocol adaptations and interpretation of the ¹⁴C results will be in order to build a 'history of use' of the musical instrument and other Heritage objects.

A06_07

The application of radiocarbon dating of lead white in the study of polychrome stone sculptures

Sá S¹,  Hendriks L^2,3, Hajdas I³, Pombo Cardoso I¹

¹Department of Conservation and Restoration and LAQV–REQUIMTE, NOVA School of Science and Technology, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal, ²School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Pérolles 80, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland, ³Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

Polychrome sculpture was a foremost artistic expression in the Middle Ages proven by numbers and persistent production. However, studying the polychromy of these sculptures is extremely challenging as, frequently, these objects got their decoration periodically renovated, supposedly to hinder the poor preservation state of the previous polychromy or to answer to changes in artistic taste and style. Today, many polychrome sculptures present intricate surfaces as a result of the loss and degradation of paint material, of the consecutive reapplication of new paint layers over the centuries, and of the uneven removal of paint layers in past restoration interventions. Hence, the understanding and interpretation of these surfaces and the identification of the original polychromy is rather complex and requires assistance of different sources of information.

Unlike other cultural heritage objects, such as wooden sculptures or paintings on canvas, polychrome stone sculptures do not bear an organic substrate which may be radiocarbon dated. Providentially, lead white, which was recently put forward as novel proxy for artwork dating, is ubiquitous on the decoration of these sculptures. The present study¹ discusses the pioneering application of ¹⁴C analysis on paint samples from polychrome limestone sculptures by specifically targeting the lead white pigment and organic binder. The radiocarbon dating survey conducted on 16 Portuguese sculptures confirmed that some polychromies were produced within the medieval period while others were revised, hereby demonstrating the potential of the radiocarbon dating technique in the transdisciplinary approach used to study the complex paint stratigraphies found in medieval sculptures.

¹Published in https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91814-y

A06_08

Radiocarbon dating contents from a two-handled combed ware jar from a burial chamber from Giza.

Jacobsen G¹,  Sowada K², Wetterstrom W³, Serpico M⁴, Bertuch F¹

¹ANSTO, Lucas Heights, Australia, ²Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, ³Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, ⁴University College London, London, United Kingdom

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston holds a collection of combed ware jars excavated from burial tombs from Giza by G.A. Reisner, over 1902 to 1942, for the Harvard University-MFA Egyptian Expedition. Two-handled combed jars were manufactured in Byblos in the Central Levant and used to transport liquids to Egypt. As part of a larger study of these jars, we present a case study of one jar – MFA 47.1662, found in a burial chamber dated to the Fifth Dynasty. Along with this jar is a plastic bag labelled as being the contents of MFA 47.1662, this bag (OP.1.47.1662) contains a mix of materials including resin fragments, plant matter and faunal remains. With no record of the contents of the bag, it is not known if all, or some, of the contents are indeed related to jar MFA 47.1662. Analysis of the contents found some of the material from the bag could not have been from the jar as it includes plant material not found in Egypt at that time. Results from the contents analysis and radiocarbon dating of four botanical and faunal specimens selected from the bag will be presented. The radiocarbon results demonstrate the likelihood of multiple modern interventions in the life-cycle of the jar, and concomitant difficulties in assessing legacy data from old excavations.

A06_09

Dating of wooden heritage objects in the Gliwice ¹⁴C and Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

Piotrowska N¹,  Kłusek M¹, Boroń P², Imiołczyk E³, Budziakowski M⁴, Poloczek A⁵, Poloczek-Imielińska A⁵, Jaksik M⁵

¹Silesian University of Technology, Institute of Physics, Gliwice, Poland, ²University of Silesia, Faculty of Humanities, Institute of History , Katowice, Poland, ³Museum of Upper Silesia, Department of Archaeology, Bytom, Poland, ⁴Cracow University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow, Poland, ⁵RECO Konserwacja Zabytków Sp. z o.o., Katowice, Poland

Radiocarbon and dendrochronology are powerful tools to determine the age of wooden objects. Hereafter we present the three objects of high importance for cultural heritage in Poland, where both methods supported each other to enhance the reliability and increase the precision of age determination.

1.            Richly ornamented, ca. 60-cm-long wooden cane, was discovered in the 1990s during excavations on the market in Bytom, founded in 1254 under German law. The cane could have been used in court proceedings in the Germanic law circle (Rechtsstabe) and two cuts indicate the judge's practice to break the cane over the head of the accused at the time of the sentence.  Archaeological context imply 13th century AD, and ¹⁴C result corresponds perfectly with this time.

2.            A column, which supports the main altar in the St. Leonard Church in Lipnica Murowana (UNESCO World Heritage Site), was made of 4-m-tall oak trunk. Due to some carvings the local story said it was previously devoted to Światowid, a pagan idol. Our analysis excluded pre-Christian age, as the tree came from the middle of the 15th century or from a later period.

3.            Saint Lawrence Church in Bobrowniki is a unique wooden church with a complicated renovation history, and up to 5 layers of polychromic paintings, including some of high artistic value. We dated 3 samples from one of the original wooden boards from the presbytery, and by adding the information about dendrochronological sequence the calibrated age interval was spectacularly narrowed from 1650-1950 AD to AD 1731-1754.

A06_10

A meta-analysis of available radiocarbon dates for the Early Iron Age in Italy

Oddo M¹

¹University Of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

Over the past thirty years, the traditional chronology of the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age transition in Italy has been the object of a complex debate. Dendrochronology dates of Swiss lake-dwellings, as well as radiocarbon dates from Central Europe and the Mediterranean area prompted a lively dispute which is yet to be resolved.

In this paper the author collects and compares a large number of radiocarbon dates produced in the latest 30 years. Besides providing a list of samples collected in Italian Early Iron Age archaeological sites, the author also analyzes samples taken in the Mediterranean region and in Central Europe, related to Italian Early Iron Age contexts by means of cross-dating or historical texts.

This research then focuses on the time-units associated to each date: the phase of a settlement, an archaeological period in the region, a specific ceramic class or type, etc.

After verifying the validity of the radiocarbon dates as indicators for the intended time-units, the author proceeds to test whether the above-mentioned units can be organized and used as Bayesian priors.

The results will provide a much needed overview of relevant radiocarbon dates for the Italian Iron Age, while clarifying their relation with archaeological and historical data in a schematic and interoperable manner.

A06_11

Results and findings from an international mortar dating intercomparison MODIS2

Scott M¹,  Lindroos A², Barrett G³, Boudin M⁴, Hajdas I⁵, Olsen J⁶, Maspero F⁷, Marzaioli F⁸, Michaska D⁹, Moreau C¹⁰, Sironic A¹¹, Pawelczyk F¹²

¹University Of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, ²Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland, ³Queens University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom, ⁴KIK-Irpa, Brussels, Belgium, ⁵ETH, Zurich, Switzerland, ⁶Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, ⁷Università di Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy, ⁸Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy, ⁹Adam Mickieiwcz University, Poznan, Poland, ¹⁰Université Paris-Saclay, Gif sur Yvette, France, ¹¹Rudjer Boškovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, ¹²Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

Dating of mortars remains an undertaking which a relatively small number of laboratories are engaged in.  At the same there have been developments of different pre-treatment methods, dating of different fractions etc, all of which have the potential to contribute to variability observed in dating results.  It is in this context that a further mortar dating intercomparison has been undertaken.

Three samples from the “International mortar dating” (www.mortardating.com) projects´ sample collection were selected for this inter-comparison study. The consensus was that the samples should represent different chronologies and typologies and come from geographically different regions and have known ages. Because of the large number of laboratories participating in the inter-comparison, the main sample selection criterion turned out to be the size of the samples available. The age of the youngest sample is well known and the age of the two others is known from earlier ¹⁴C dating of mortar, and their context.

Before distribution, the samples were split into pieces and each laboratory received one piece of each sample for characterization of the mortar. The remainder of each sample was crushed further with plastic covered pliers and sieved in a mechanically vibrated sieve series for 15 min whereafter the <150 micrometer (µm) grain-size fraction was collected and homogenized by shaking. Each laboratory received approximately 1000 mg of the fraction in a small glass vial.

The results from the intercomparison and their analysis will be presented, focusing on the variations observed and their potential attribution.

A06_12

Grain fractions versus time intervals – mortars radiocarbon dating

Michalska D¹,  Hajdas I²

¹Adam Mickiewicz University, Institute of Geology, Poznań, Poland, ²Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, Dep. of Earth Sciences, ETHZ, Zurich, Switzerland

Pretreatment is very important issue in case of mortars dating. Depending on the composition of the mortar, various preparation techniques allow to obtain the actual age of mortar production and thus the erection of a given wall (Modis 1 and 2). Due to the methodical nature of the work, selected mortar samples from Royal Castle in Poznań were ¹⁴C measured in different time interval and different grain fractions.

The construction of the castle began in the north-west part of a small hill. Due to the unstable ground, a stone foundation was created in the first stage and poured over with lime mortar. Then the castle walls were built of brick.

Radiocarbon dating of mortars provide the first attempt to determine the age of castle buildings.

In the case of these mortars, the results of the ¹⁴C measurement showed that the most important factor influencing the real age of the castle construction, was the time interval in which the gas portion was collected during the chemical decomposition of carbonates. It was connected with the composition and preservation state of those mortars. Selection of the appropriate time interval in which the gas is collected for measurement, as well as the method of preliminary preparation can be adapted to a specific type of mortars.

A06_13

Ramped Pyrolysis Radiocarbon Dating of Lime Lumps: Establishing the Earliest Mortar-Based Construction Phase of Turku Cathedral, Finland

Barrett G¹,  Allen K¹, Reimer P¹, Ringbom Ų, Lindroos A²

¹14Chrono, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom, ²Åbo Akademi, Turku, Finland

Ramped pyrolysis radiocarbon dating was carried out on lime lumps from the oldest remains of Turku Cathedral, Finland, the first sacristy.  Lime lumps from four sampling locations were analyzed.  For each sample, 5-6 fractions of CO₂ from different temperature fractions were trapped, converted to graphite and radiocarbon dated.

One of the four samples exhibited contamination for its lowest temperature fractions.  For the remaining samples, the age-temperature profiles were well-behaved, exhibiting a plateau of dates that were all in statistical agreement and indicative of a sample where only a single carbonate source (lime binder from the construction phase) is contributing to the radiocarbon dates.  For each of the four samples, the combined radiocarbon age resulted in a late 13th century calibrated age.  Combining the radiocarbon dates from all four samples (19 in statistical agreement, χ2-test: df=18, T = 4.5, 5% = 28.9) provided a calibrated age of 1271-1292 cal AD (95.4%). 

This set of results strengthens previous mortar dating results (acid hydrolysis on bulk and lime lumps) and confirms that Turku Cathedral was first constructed from stone and mortar in the late 13th century.  The results find remarkable convergence with written sources that suggest Bishop Magnus I may have been elected there in 1291 AD and that the building was inaugurated as a cathedral in 1300 AD.  Ramped pyrolysis combined with suitably selected lime lumps is shown, in this instance, to be a robust approach for dating lime-based mortars.              

A06_14

A case of mysterious identity: one of the earliest churches of medieval Trondheim, Norway

Nadeau M¹,  Petersén A², Sæhle I², Svarva H¹, Seiler M¹

¹National Laboratory for Age Determination, NTNU University Museum, Trondheim, Norway, ²NIKU, Trondheim, Norway

Christianity was introduced in Norway during the 10th Century. King Olav Haraldsson built St Clement’s Church in Trondheim in 1015 AD and played an important role in the transition from paganism to Christianity. According to the sagas “… after a while, the coffin miraculously rose out of the earth. It was then moved and buried anew at St. Clement’s Church …… it looked as if Olav was simply sleeping …” The saga of Olav Haraldsson and the legend surrounding his sainthood soon became central to the Norwegian national identity. The locality of this church has intrigued historians for centuries.

In 2016-2017, an archaeological excavation conducted in the historical part of Trondheim revealed amazing features distributed over 15 phases from the 10th century onward. The earlier phases contain urban occupation and secular buildings, representing the late Viking Age/ early Medieval period, capped by a thick burnt layer. A sequence of five wooden churches were uncovered above this layer. The earliest church could be considered a candidate for the St. Clement’s Church.

Several methods were used to date this difficult site. Posts from secular buildings and churches were dated both by dendrochronology and radiocarbon wiggle matching. The posts that include the 994 AD Miyake event were dated separately using this event. In addition, single radiocarbon results were obtained on human, wood, and plant remains. We present here a model used to establish a chronology for the whole site and discuss whether it could contain the early 11th century St. Clement’s Church.

A06_15

Progress towards a Byzantine-Medieval Historic Buildings Tree-Ring Chronology from Cyprus using dendrochronology and radiocarbon

Manning S^1,2,  Lorentzen B¹, Bakirtzis N², Soyluoğlu M²

¹Cornell University, Ithaca, United States, ²The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus

The painted churches of the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus are monuments of global significance and form key references for Byzantine and Medieval art and architecture in the broader Eastern Mediterranean. However, exact timelines for their building biographies are only approximately known, based on subjective stylistic and typological criteria and a few inscriptions that are not always directly related to the building or the associated artwork. Wooden elements employed in the architecture, decoration and furnishing of these and other historic structures in Cyprus can offer both a key independent chronological resource and also inform on the associated processes of resource acquisition and use. We report on a research project using dendrochronological analysis combined with radiocarbon to begin to date and source the wooden cultural heritage of Cyprus from the Byzantine, Medieval and Ottoman periods. The ultimate aim of the project is to create the first high-precision timeline for Byzantine and post-Byzantine art and architecture in Cyprus, and to better illuminate the building histories of these structures. Here we report on initial work from the project on a key group of Cypriot painted churches and other historic monuments. While we have been able to directly date some more recent timbers and wooden cultural heritage against forest tree-ring chronologies, new multi-century floating Byzantine tree-ring sequences from several monuments have been preliminarily anchored in calendar time within a few years via radiocarbon wiggle-matching. This work is beginning to create the basis of a high-resolution record linked with over 800 years of cultural heritage.

A06_P01

Project Radiocarbon: big data and cross-border histories

Griffiths S¹, Bayliss A²,  Brown L³, Carlin N⁴, Evans T⁵

¹Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom, ²Historic England, London, UK, ³Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh, UK, ⁴University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, ⁵University of York, York, UK

The development of radiocarbon dating revolutionised the practice and philosophy of archaeology internationally by providing independent time reckoning. Radiocarbon is the global scientific dating technique because suitable samples and high-precision calibration curves are available internationally. It could provide the potential for a truly internationalised research agenda. As relative processing costs have fallen and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry has reduced required sample sizes, the number of radiocarbon measurements produced annually has increased hugely.

However, the boom in the production of measurements has led to a fundamental problem. Structures for conserving and accessing these data are not matched by data production. International research is impoverished by the lack of interoperability. There are no international datasets that are supported inter-jurisdictionally by national historic environment agencies, with periodic updates to keep them dynamic and scalable. As a result, millions of euros worth of data are being lost, becoming inaccurate, corrupted, or inaccessible, damaging our collective inheritance understanding the archaeological record.

Project Radiocarbon is designed to assemble and validate radiocarbon results along with detailed metadata from across six national jurisdictions on the islands of Ireland and Britain We will produce an open-access digital repository for radiocarbon results and their associated archaeological information making them interoperable, with a commitment to support a live, dynamic resource, which we believe represents a first in radiocarbon big data projects. The project will make a significant contribution to understanding our shared European heritage, and to the management of heritage assets and the historic environment.

A06_P02

When corrosion is useful: the incorporation of ¹⁴C in lead white

Beck L¹,  Messager C¹, Germain T¹, Hain S¹

¹LMC14-ARTEMIS, Gif-sur-yvette, France

Recent studies have shown that radiocarbon dating can be applied to inorganic compounds such as synthetic lead carbonates, cerussite (PbCO₃) and hydrocerussite (2PbCO₃Pb (OH)₂ (Beck et al. 2019; Messager et al. 2020) . Known as lead white, lead carbonates were used as white pigment or cosmetics from the 4th century BC to the 20th century and were formed by the corrosion of metallic lead by vinegar and horse manure up to the 19th c. In order to better understand the incorporation of ¹⁴C in cerussite and hydrocerussite, lead carbonates were produced in laboratory by the corrosion process under various monitored experimental conditions. Lead carbonates were obtained using two types of acid (vinegar containing ¹⁴C vs ¹⁴C free acetic acid) and three types of CO₂ sources (air, horse manure containing ¹⁴C and ¹⁴C free fossil CO2 gas). Twelve different conditions were tested and ¹⁴C was measured in all the corrosion products: lead acetates when CO₂ was absent and cerussite when CO₂ was present. The results show that cerussites carry the ¹⁴C signature of CO₂ produced by the horse manure or from the fossil gas, indicating that vinegar/acetic acid acts as a precursor and horse manure as a reagent to produce carbonates. These experiments demonstrate that CO₂ produced by horse manure fermentation is incorporated into the corrosion products, meaning that the carbonate function of the lead carbonates carries a ¹⁴C signature corresponding to the natural organic matter. This step is crucial for an absolute dating of lead carbonates by the radiocarbon method.

A06_P03

Integrated methodology for the investigation of paintings – The rediscovery of Jan Ruyscher

Fiorillo F¹, Hendriks L²,  Hajdas I³, Huysecom E⁴

¹The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, ²School of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Fribourg, Switzerland, ³Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland, ⁴Faculty of Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

The challenging reconstruction of the history of a painting involves several questions: when the object was made being the easiest one to answer based on scientific evidence, while defining the authorship is more complex.

Within the context of heritage sciences, ¹⁴C analyses are gaining popularity owing to advances in microsamples. The integration of radiocarbon dating on the support, the natural organic binder and lead white pigment, with spectroscopic techniques used to investigate the paint layers, offers a complementary approach to characterise an artwork.

To illustrate its potential, this combined methodology was applied to a case study: a landscape painting bearing the signature of Jan Ruyscher, one of the ‘Little Dutch Masters’ of the 17th century. Radiocarbon analysis of the support dated the wooden panel to the mid-18th century; however, spectroscopic analyses identified titanium white in the paint layers, a pigment put into commerce only in the 1930s.

From an historical perspective, Jan Ruyscher vanished from art history after his death and was rediscovered in the 1930s. The combination of art historical information and scientific findings shed new light on the story of the object; a painting of a less-known painter was made in a specific timeframe, likely following an increased demand of its artworks. The deliberate re-use of an old panel revealed the forger’s intent to deceive.

The methodology provides critical arguments for the identification of a period of creation of the painting, a possible reconstruction of its history, and its classification – in this case, a forgery.

A06_P04

Archaeological site of Vetricella: chronology and anthropic and natural landscapes

Di Cicco M¹, Mantile N¹, Marasco L², Bianchi G², Altieri S¹, Vetromile C¹, Lubritto C¹

¹University Of Campania, Caserta, Italy, ²University of Siena, Siena, Italy

In this paper we show results concerning the chronological and landscape reconstruction of Vetricella (Scarlino, GR) archaeological site,  situated in the centre of the coastal plain crossed by the river Pecora, near Scarlino Castle. The research work  is  based on a multidisciplinary strategy:  the high variety of material remains discovered, as numismatic, ceramics and vitreous finds; archeometallurgical, archeozoological and archaeobotanical studies,  radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analyses permitted to reconstruct the economic and productive activities, datable from at least the 7th to the 11th century. In particular radiocarbon dating of organic remains and mortar sample permitted to recognize the signs of 4 distinct periods of presence, which can be divided into a chronological period between the 7th - 8th century and the first half of the 11th century, due the type of the recovered finds.

Moreover the multi-analytical study permitted to discover the reduced time frame within which the "birth" and the greater development of the site are allocated, corresponding to the end of the 9th and the end of the 10th century.

The project has been realized in the framework  of the ERC (European Research Council) research project “ nEU-Med: Origins of a new Economic Union (7th to 12th centuries): resources, landscapes and political strategies in a Mediterranean region”.

A06_P05

Archeometric research of samples from Huelva La Joya (SW Iberia)

Michalska D¹,  Krueger M², Mrozek-Wysocka M¹, Moreno Megías V³

¹Adam Mickiewicz University, Institute of Geology, Poznań, Poland, ²Faculty of Archeology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, ³Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueologia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville,  Spain

Samples from the cemetery of Huelva La Joya (Spain) excavated in the sixties and seventies of the 20th century have been analyzed in order to refine the chronology of the grave archaeologically attributed to the early Iron Age. In the grave no. 9 a double burial, cremation and inhumation, accompanying by rich grave goods of local and foreign provenance were found. The radiocarbon dating of selected charcoal fragments was compared with the relative chronology. Samples from the cemetery were carefully analyzed. Selected fragments of charcoals were also identified.

Then, the results obtained for the Huelva La Joya site were compared with the results of ¹⁴C measurements for the archaeological material from the Setefilla site. These results showed that the biconic bowls are much older than originally thought, the oldest ones dating back to the last centuries of the Bronze Age.

A06_P06

Viking or hippie? A leather bag found in a bog in southern Norway

Nadeau M¹,  Zurbach D¹, Rzadczka-Juga I¹, Opheim-Larsen K², Andersen س, Svarva H¹, Seiler M¹

¹National Laboratory for Age Determination, NTNU University Museum., Trondheim, Norway, ²Olav Magnussonsveg 56, Saksvik, Norway, ³Innlandet fylkeskommune, seksjon for Kulturarv, Hamar, Norway

A treasure can be found anywhere, at any time. In 2021, while hiking in the Dovrefjell, Norway, an area which contains snow patches and is often frozen, a young man discovered a well preserved but relatively old, odd looking leather bag in a peat bog. The bag is made of rather thick but very soft leather in natural colour. It has been sewn with thin leather bands and decorated with stiches and metal studs.

The good condition of the bag and the apparent lack of comparative objects from prehistoric times led the local authorities to conclude that it could be as new as the 1970s. The uniformity of the metal studs and the fact that they were not usual decorations support this conclusion. Nevertheless, the young man sent a sample for radiocarbon dating.

The leather sample was cleaned with a sequence of organic solvents before the standard acid-alkali-acid (AAA) treatment. The solvent sequence was applied three times, followed by AAA treatment and ¹⁴C measurement after each step to ensure that all contaminants were removed and that the results did not change. The leather and thread were also analysed by FTIR. Optical microscopy was used to identify the origin of the leather and thread.

We present here the results of the different analyses leading to our conclusion. Far from being from the seventies, radiocarbon results indicate that it might have been the prized possession of someone 800 years before that. However, one could buy it online...

A06_P07

New dating sequence for Andean oracle at Maucallacta; Arequipa, Peru

Sobczyk M¹, Huels M², Rakowski A³,  Olaya Cotera C⁴, Kłaput J¹, Pawlyta J⁵, Sieczkowska D¹, Ziółkowski M¹

¹University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, ²Uni Kiel, Kiel, Germany, ³SUT, Gliwice, Poland, ⁴Independent researcher, Lima, Peru, ⁵AGH, Kraków, Poland

The acheological research related to the Maucallacta site is part of the project carried out since 1996 by the University of Warsaw, (Poland) and the Catholic University “Santa María” (Arequipa, Peru). The Project covers archaeological investigation in the vicinity of the snow-covered volcano Coropuna which was frequently mentioned by chroniclers of the 16th and 17th centuries as an oracle, worshiped since pre-Inca times.The archaeological site of Maucallacta is located approx. 170 kilometers north-west of the city of Arequipa in thesouthern highlands of Peru in District of Pampacolca, Province of Castilla, Department of Arequipa (LS; 3,750 m asl). The architectural complex of Maucallacta, composed of more than three hundred stone buildings, tombs and ceremonial structures. Maucallacta may be considered the principal administrative, pilgrimage and religious center related to the volcano and one of  the most important Inca site discovered in Kuntisuyu, the Fourth Quarter of the Inca State. The ceremonies that took place there are evidenced by extensive deposits containing numerous organic remains, including fragments of camelids bones (lama, alpaca). They were discovered at the foot of the largest square, located on a huge stone platform. The dating of the material (bone fragments) from the individual layers of the stratigraphic deposits allows to obtain new data on the probable sequence of celebrations carried out in this complex.

A06_P08

Dating the Wilson’s Arch complex, Jerusalem: methodological insights

Regev J¹,  Uziel J², Mintz E¹, Regev L¹, Boaretto E¹

¹Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, ²Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, Israel

Radiocarbon dating is rarely applied in Classical and Post-Classical periods in the Eastern Mediterranean, as it is not considered precise enough to solve specific chronological questions, often causing the attribution of historical monuments to be based on circumstantial evidence. This research, applied in Jerusalem, presents a novel approach to solve this problem. Integrating fieldwork, stratigraphy, and microarchaeology analyses with intense radiocarbon dating of charred remains in building materials beneath Wilson's Arch, we absolutely dated monumental structures to very narrow windows of time – even to specific rulers.

Most of the dated samples were organic remains extracted from the mortar between the building stones. As the site was filled and covered over the years, microarchaeological methods were used first to verify the identification of the original mortars. Furthermore, hard work was invested to find and identify sufficiently large single fragments of short-lived samples, confirming that each date represents a single point on the calibration curve.

Various construction technologies were used along the 1300 years time span over which the buildings were constructed. As we searched for, identified, extracted, and dated the organic aggregates within the plasters and mortars, very different stages of preservation were identified: in some cases even fresh straw was extracted, while in other materials, the organic remains were extremely fragile. Another aspect to consider is that different building material functions require different technology. The resulting chemical properties of the context affect the preservation state of the material for dating and allows secure dating by chemically definable original material.

A06_P09

Mortar dating of the Stari Most bridge at Otres, Croatia, using data extrapolation

Sironić A¹,  Alajbeg A², Cherkinsky A³, Borković D¹, Barešić J¹, Krajcar Bronić I¹

¹Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, ²Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments, Split, Croatia, ³Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, United States of AMerica

Many different approaches exist to radiocarbon dating of mortar, and there is still no universal recipe that would work in all cases. We experimented with data extrapolation from the dates of CO₂ fractions collected by sequential dissolution. The method was modelled after data obtained from two laboratory mortars. Here we use the same method for dating the archaeological site – the Stari Most (Old bridge) at Otres, Croatia.

The arch of the bridge is still partially preserved, making it possible to walk over the Otres creek even today. Based on cadastral and archive data it can be ruled out that the bridge was built after the beginning of the 19th century. A considerable number of stone bridges in the southern Croatian region Dalmatia were built during the Ottoman rule (16th-18th century), but the way of its construction reveals that the Stari Most bridge does not belong to this period either. Since Roman stone bridges were also built differently, the most probable possibility remains that the Stari Most at Otres is medieval.

The preliminary dating of the bridge places it from the 9th to the 13th century. The preliminary dating correlates the bridge to the neighboring Otres-Crkvina archaeological site, where most of the activities took place between the 9th and 15th centuries. This is the first attempt to date this arch bridge.

A06_P10

Dating by U-Th and ¹⁴C of secondary carbonate deposits: search for validation criteria. Application to rock art at Nerja cave

Pons-Branchu E¹, Barbarand J², Caffy I³, Dapoigny A¹, Dumoulin J³, Medina-Alcaide M^4,5, Nouet J², Sanchidrian Torti J⁵, Tisnerat-laborde N¹,  Valladas H¹

¹LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ Univ. Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, ²GEOPS, Univ. Paris Saclay, Orsay, France, ³LMC14, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ Univ. Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, ⁴PACEA, Univ. de Bordeaux, Pessac, France, ⁵University of Cordoba, Geography and Territory Sciences, Cordoba, Spain, ⁶Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Granada, Spain

Accurate dating of cave carbonate parietal samples is a real scientific issue that would have a major impact in prehistory. Decorated Paleolithic caves are abundant and most of them contain wall decorations engraved or traced with metal oxides that cannot be directly dated by carbon 14; their chronology is therefore very uncertain. Many drawings are covered with carbonate deposits that can be dated by radionuclear methods making it possible to open a new field of investigation for research on Paleolithic art.

Since almost 10 years, researches conducted at Nerja cave on these carbonate layers permitted to establish validity criteria. To get meaningful chronological information on the carbonate formation above or below the parietal representation and define validation criteria for dating, we i) characterized the mineralogical structure of the samples to verify that they behaved as a close system and ii) combined ¹⁴C and ²³⁰Th/²³⁴U dating methods on the same sample in order to estimate the reliability of measured ages. We will present a review of previously obtained data and new ones.

A06_P11

¹⁴C Dating of historical Japanese musical instrument flute sack

YOKOYAMA M¹,  SAKAMOTO M, Takaya H

¹Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

The radiocarbon dating method was applied to the study of Japanese traditional textiles. The Japanese traditional texture studied includes the traditional musical instrument flute sack which is possessed by Japanese Emperor Go-Daigo (1288-1339).

In our previous work, we studied and applied the radiocarbon dating method to one of the oldest Japanese flag  Emperor Go-Daigo possessed. The ¹⁴C dating of this flag was 1463-1528 or 1553-1634.

We launched a research project of Southern-Northern court at Yoshino of Nara, Japan  and clarify blank history of Japan by applying radiocarbon dating method to Emperor's Imperial Treasure in Anou history and folklore museum.