Absolute dating of the European Neolithic using the 5259 BC rapid 14C excursion

Andrej Maczkowski, Charlotte Pearson, John Francuz, Tryfon Giagkoulis, Sönke Szidat, Lukas Wacker, Matthias Bolliger, Kostas Kotsakis, Albert Hafner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Abrupt radiocarbon (14C) excursions, or Miyake events, in sequences of radiocarbon measurements from calendar-dated tree-rings provide opportunities to assign absolute calendar dates to undated wood samples from contexts across history and prehistory. Here, we report a tree-ring and 14C-dating study of the Neolithic site of Dispilio, Northern Greece, a waterlogged archaeological site on Lake Kastoria. Findings secure an absolute, calendar-dated time using the 5259 BC Miyake event, with the final ring of the 303-year-long juniper tree-ring chronology dating to 5140 BC. While other sites have been absolutely dated to a calendar year through 14C-signature Miyake events, Dispilio is the first European Neolithic site of these and it provides a fixed, calendar-year anchor point for regional chronologies of the Neolithic.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number4263
JournalNature communications
Volume15
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2024

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Physics and Astronomy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Absolute dating of the European Neolithic using the 5259 BC rapid 14C excursion'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this