DEVELOPMENT AND EXTENSION OF THE CALIBRATION OF THE RADIOCARBON TIME-SCALE - ARCHAEOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

The purpose of the C-14 calibration process is to convert a convention al C-14 age into solar time and express the resultant transformation i n a manner which accurately reflects the overall precision of the age expression. Comparisons of C-14 and dendrochronological data provides a detailed calibration record for the Holocene. The results of paired uranium/thorium and C-14 measurements have been used to examine the C- 14/solar time offset during the terminal Pleistocene. This potential e xtended calibration data base permits researchers to view within a lar ger perspective the Holocene C-14 time spectrum as well as the charact eristics of the various Holocene C-14 'time warps'. As an example of t he potential effect of the extended calibration data based on the init ial coral data, we compare calibrated C-14 age determinations associat ed with the Clovis and Folsom fluted point tradition in North America prehistory. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd