Radiocarbon Dating of Fourteen Dead Sea Scrolls

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The name Dead Sea Scrolls refers to some 1200 manuscripts found in caves in the hills on the western shore of the Dead Sea during the last 45 years. They range in size from small fragments to complete books from the holy scriptures (the Old Testament). The manuscripts also include uncanonized sectarian books, letters and commercial documents, written on papyrus and parchment. In only a few cases, direct information on the date of writing was found in the scrolls. In all other cases, the dating is based on indirect archaeological and paleographical evidence. To check this evidence, radiocarbon ages of 14 selected scrolls were determined using accelerator mass spectrometry. The calibrated radiocarbon ages agree well, except in one case, with the paleographic estimates or the specific dates noted on the scrolls.

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for 14 C Dating

“…However, it was only with the introduction of AMS that dating material from the scrolls and not samples associated with them was finally possible. [75,76] Even though a few discrepancies were found, the results of radiocarbon dating essentially confirmed palaeographic considerations. However, also in this case, 14 C results have led to polemics and discussion.…”

The Effects of Possible Contamination on the Radiocarbon Dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls II: Empirical Methods to Remove Castor Oil and Suggestions for Redating

“…For comparison, 2 samples (KLR-2525 and KLR-2527) were cleaned using only the AAA procedure in a manner similar to that of Bonani et al (1992) and Jull et al (1995). The AAA method by itself is insufficient to remove castor oil, as reported by Rasmussen et al (2001).…”

“…If modern castor oil is present and is not removed prior to dating, the 14 C dates will be skewed artificially towards modern values. In Rasmussen et al (2001), it was shown that the standard AAA pretreatment procedure used in the 2 previous studies dating Dead Sea Scroll samples (Bonani et al 1992;Jull et al 1995) is not capable of removing castor oil from parchment samples. In the present work, we show that it is unlikely that castor oil reacts with the amino acids of the parchment proteins, a finding which leaves open the possibility of devising a cleaning method that can effectively remove castor oil.…”

Use of Radiocarbon Dating in Assessing Christian Connections to the Dead Sea Scrolls

“…A feature of the Zurich study was an apparent displacement of basic cal BCE/CE values toward older ages than expected from known dates and those estimated from paleographical studies, as noted by Bonani et al (1992) and analyzed by Rodley (1993). However, as pointed out to us by Doudna (personal communication 1998;unreferenced) Obviously, the papyrus was not cut after the date of recording, so some other common factor appears to have affected these measurements.…”