Had to choose between carbon dating a bone fragment or a charcoal sample from the same hearth pit

I went with the charcoal last week on a dig in southern France, and the date came back 2,000 years older than what the pottery nearby suggested. Has anyone else had a carbon dating result that completely contradicted the stratigraphy?

3 comments

3 Comments

graceblack22d ago

Ugh, that's such a frustrating mismatch to deal with.

nancy47522d ago

@graceblack totally gets it - I had the same headache with a hearth ash sample that ended up dating way older than the pottery above it.

bettyfox14d ago

Is it really that big of a deal? Hearth ash is usually pretty old carbon, and pottery can get moved around easily by animals or water. I bet the dates are close enough to still tell you the pottery was used around the same time roughly. Sounds like you just have to squint a little at the results, not throw the whole site away.