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Organic inclusions in lime binders provide useful samples for radiocarbon dating of historical objects. Two Czech castles Týřov and Pyšolec from Late Middle Ages were explored, and tens of charcoals were found in their walls. The radiocarbon content of the charcoals was measured with accelerator mass spectrometry. The dating results showed that none of the charcoals were younger than the known historical ages (Týřov: 1260 - 1270, Pyšolec: 1300 - 1340), but some were considerably older. Two charcoals from Pyšolec castle dated to Palaeolithic, likely originating from fluvial sediments added as an aggregate to the mortar. When excluding these two charcoals, the others indicated most likely dates being 50-100 y older than the building dates of the castles. This systemic effect corresponds to the age of wood used for lime burning and shall be accounted for when dating mortars using charcoals.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncac119 | DOI Listing |
Natl Sci Rev
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
Given that K constitutes about 3 wt.% of Earth's crust and is present in most rock-forming minerals, and that Ar diffusion in minerals is temperature-dependent, Ar-based geochronology (Ar/Ar and K-Ar dating) can date most rocks and also reveal their thermal history. This paper reviews recent advances and longstanding limitations in Ar/Ar and K-Ar geochronology, and provides perspectives into future research on Ar-based geochronometers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Ecol Evol
September 2025
Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal.
Few high-latitude archaeological contexts are older than marine isotope stage (MIS) 15 and even fewer provide evidence of early human occupation during a glacial period. New discoveries at Old Park, Canterbury (UK), provide evidence of both the oldest accessible artefact-bearing sediment in northern Europe and cold-stage adaptation. Radiometric and palaeomagnetic dating places the earliest suggested occupation of this site between 773 thousand years ago (ka) and 607 ka, with hominin presence inferred during MIS 17-16.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2025
Dangoor Research Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Radiocarbon Laboratory, Scientific Archaeology Unit, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
Using well-established microarchaeological sampling methods, we reached a precise radiocarbon date of 800 BC for the Siloam Pool's monumental water dam in Jerusalem. This date is a critical link connecting several imposing waterworks constructed at that time. Climate data pointing to droughts and flash floods during the last decades of the 9th century BC provide a logical framework for the reasons behind such endeavors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Radiat Isot
August 2025
Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Elementary Particles, School of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Greece.
Thermally assisted optically stimulated luminescence encompasses simultaneous thermal and optical stimulation, immediately after a thermoluminescence measurement up to 500 °C. While two different measuring modes were proposed, none of these was ever simulated so far. The present work attempts to fill this scientific hiatus by using the one trap one recombination model and Python programming language to generate both linear as well as isothermal TA - OSL decay curves.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
August 2025
Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, Netherlands.
Understanding how the dispersal of cultural innovations intersects with the spread of genes remains a central challenge in prehistoric archaeology. Here, we examine how the third millennium BCE Corded Ware (CW) and Bell Beaker (BB) burial traditions disseminated across Europe and their relation to the influx of steppe ancestry. To investigate these spatiotemporal dynamics during one of Europe's most transformative periods, we compiled a dataset of radiocarbon dates from 967 burials, applying kernel density estimation alongside optimal linear estimation.
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