@article{0abded0e49a946ce88e4ccdf878e2a19,
title = "Fluctuating radiocarbon offsets observed in the southern Levant and implications for archaeological chronology debates",
abstract = "Considerable work has gone into developing high-precision radiocarbon (14C) chronologies for the southern Levant region during the Late Bronze to Iron Age/early Biblical periods (∼1200-600 BC), but there has been little consideration whether the current standard Northern Hemisphere 14C calibration curve (IntCal13) is appropriate for this region. We measured 14C ages of calendar-dated tree rings from AD 1610 to 1940 from southern Jordan to investigate contemporary 14C levels and to compare these with IntCal13. Our data reveal an average offset of ∼19 14C years, but, more interestingly, this offset seems to vary in importance through time. While relatively small, such an offset has substantial relevance to high-resolution 14C chronologies for the southern Levant, both archaeological and paleoenvironmental. For example, reconsidering two published studies, we find differences, on average, of 60% between the 95.4% probability ranges determined from IntCal13 versus those approximately allowing for the observed offset pattern. Such differences affect, and even potentially undermine, several current archaeological and historical positions and controversies.",
keywords = "Archaeology, Calibration, Radiocarbon, Radiocarbon offsets, Southern Levant",
author = "Manning, {Sturt W.} and Carol Griggs and Brita Lorentzen and Ramsey, {Christopher Bronk} and David Chivall and Jull, {A. J.Timothy} and Lange, {Todd E.}",
note = "Funding Information: technical assistance, and Pierre M. Bikai for access to some samples. We thank the reviewers. We thank the laboratory teams at the Arizona and Oxford Radiocarbon Laboratories, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman. We thank the former Hotel Taybet Zaman (now Hyatt Zaman Hotel & Resort). This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Award BCS 1219315; the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, Canada, via the CRANE project, University of Toronto, Award 895-2011-1026; and the College of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Classics, Cornell University. Funding Information: We thank Linah Ababneh for organizing access and for fieldwork collaboration and for work on the BADG-1 sample, Ameen Al-Duqs and the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture for fieldwork collaboration and permissions, Kate Seufer and Cynthia Kocik for laboratory and technical assistance, and Pierre M. Bikai for access to some samples. We thank the reviewers. We thank the laboratory teams at the Arizona and Oxford Radiocarbon Laboratories, and the American Center of Oriental Research, Amman. We thank the former Hotel Taybet Zaman (now Hyatt Zaman Hotel & Resort). This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, Award BCS 1219315; the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, Canada, via the CRANE project, University of Toronto, Award 895-2011-1026; and the College of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Classics, Cornell University. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.",
year = "2018",
month = jun,
day = "12",
doi = "10.1073/pnas.1719420115",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "115",
pages = "6141--6146",
journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
issn = "0027-8424",
publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",
number = "24",
}