Calibration of radiocarbon results pertaining to related archaeological events

Buck, Caitlin E.; Litton, C. D.; Smith, A. F. M.

doi:10.1016/0305-4403(92)90025-x

Cited by 230 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…see Walker et al (2003) and Blockley et al (2004). Bayesian methods have been applied to constrained radiocarbon dates for many years now (Buck et al (1991), Buck et al (1992)) and with greater frequency since the availability of software to perform such analyses (Bronk Ramsey (1995), Bronk Ramsey (2001, Jones and Nicholls (2002)). For details of Bayesian theory readers should look elsewhere (e.g.…”

Section: Methodological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deposition models for chronological records

Ramsey

2008

Quaternary Science Reviews

1,420

480

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Long term sedimentary sequences provide a wealth of useful information for research into the palaeo-environment, especially in relation to past climate change. Shorter records provide similar information in many archaeological contexts. However if such records are to be used to provide precise timing of events, and more critically the relative timing between different records, methods are needed to provide accurate and precise age-depth models for these sequences. Given the imprecision of individual calibrated radiocarbon determinations it is necessary to use the information we have about the deposition process to refine our chronologies and also to provide interpolation between dated levels in any sequence. Even with layer counted chronologies, the uncertainties are sometimes hard to quantify. This paper outlines a range of Bayesian models for deposition which have been implemented in the computer programme OxCal. These models can be used to combine information from the sediments themselves with radiocarbon or other direct dating information. Such models have the potential to integrate information between different records and provide a coherent chronology on which to base environmental or archaeological research.

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Section: Methodological Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deposition models for chronological records

Ramsey

2008

Quaternary Science Reviews

1,420

480

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“…We present three scenarios that reflect different readings of the available evidence. Model 1 uses the known relationships between the four skulls, and analyses the other data using the interpretation that they are a random sample from a uniformly distributed phase of activity (Buck et al 1992). We will argue that this model probably importantly under-constrains the associated statistical scatter (ibid.).…”

Section: Model Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dates, Diet, and Dismemberment: Evidence from the Coldrum Megalithic Monument, Kent

Wysocki

Griffiths

Hedges

et al. 2013

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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We present radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data, and osteological analysis of the remains of a minimum of 17 individuals deposited in the western part of the burial chamber at Coldrum, Kent. This is one of the Medway group of megalithic monuments – sites with shared architectural motifs and no very close parallels elsewhere in Britain – whose location has been seen as important in terms of the origins of Neolithic material culture and practices in Britain. The osteological analysis identified the largest assemblage of cut-marked human bone yet reported from a British early Neolithic chambered tomb; these modifications were probably undertaken as part of burial practices. The stable isotope dataset shows very enriched δ15N values, the causes of which are not entirely clear, but could include consumption of freshwater fish resources. Bayesian statistical modelling of the radiocarbon dates demonstrates that Coldrum is an early example of a British Neolithic burial monument, though the tomb was perhaps not part of the earliest Neolithic evidence in the Greater Thames Estuary. The site was probably initiated after the first appearance of other early Neolithic regional phenomena including an inhumation burial, early Neolithic pottery and a characteristic early Neolithic post-and-slot structure, and perhaps of Neolithic flint extraction in the Sussex mines. Coldrum is the only site in the Medway monument group to have samples which have been radiocarbon dated, and is important both for regional studies of the early Neolithic and wider narratives of the processes, timing, and tempo of Neolithisation across Britain

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“…This was based on the mathematical formulations of Buck et al (1992). In this method the events in a model can be divided up between boundaries.…”

Section: Background To Original Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When OxCal was first released (1/8/1994, see Bronk Ramsey 1994, 1995 it provided, in addition to straight-forward calibration, various techniques for the analysis of groups of radiocarbon events in phases, sequences and (based largely on the work of Buck et al 1991Buck et al , 1992Buck et al , 1994. New techniques were also provided to test the internal consistency of these Models based on "agreement indices" (Bronk Ramsey 1995), which are, in effect pseudo Bayes factors (see for example chapter 9 of Gilks et al 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of the Radiocarbon Calibration Program

Ramsey¹

2001

Radiocarbon

1,746

552

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ABSTRACT. This paper highlights some of the main developments to the radiocarbon calibration program, OxCal. In addition to many cosmetic changes, the latest version of OxCal uses some different algorithms for the treatment of multiple phases. The theoretical framework behind these is discussed and some model calculations demonstrated. Significant changes have also been made to the sampling algorithms used which improve the convergence of the Bayesian analysis. The convergence itself is also reported in a more comprehensive way so that problems can be traced to specific parts of the model. The use of convergence data, and other techniques for testing the implications of particular models, are described.

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Calibration of radiocarbon results pertaining to related archaeological events

Cited by 230 publications

References 14 publications

Deposition models for chronological records

Deposition models for chronological records

Dates, Diet, and Dismemberment: Evidence from the Coldrum Megalithic Monument, Kent

Development of the Radiocarbon Calibration Program

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