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Radiocarbon dating

Nature Reviews Methods Primers volume 1, Article number: 62 (2021) Cite this article

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Abstract

Radiocarbon dating uses the decay of a radioactive isotope of carbon (14C) to measure time and date objects containing carbon-bearing material. With a half-life of 5,700 ± 30 years, detection of 14C is a useful tool for determining the age of a specimen formed over the past 55,000 years. In this Primer, we outline key advances in 14C measurement and instrument capacity, as well as optimal sample selection and preparation. We discuss data processing, carbon reservoir age correction, calibration and statistical analyses. We then outline examples of radiocarbon dating across a range of applications, from anthropology and palaeoclimatology to forensics and medical science. Reproducibility and minimum reporting standards are discussed along with potential issues related to accuracy and sensitivity. Finally, we look forwards to the adoption of radiocarbon dating in various fields of research thanks to continued instrument improvement.

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Fig. 1: Life cycle of 14C.
Fig. 2: AMS radiocarbon analysis process.
Fig. 3: Calibration curve and precision of calendar ages.
Fig. 4: Calibration of radiocarbon ages.
Fig. 5: Bayesian modelling in radiocarbon dating.
Fig. 6: Radiocarbon dating of sedimentary records.
Fig. 7: Distribution of 14C in the human body.
Fig. 8: Radiocarbon analysis of cultural heritage items and detection of forgeries.

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Acknowledgements

The authors apologize to the authors of numerous papers that could not be cited owing to limited space. The authors acknowledge monumental contributions of generations of radiocarbon (14C) researchers and researchers using 14C in this flourishing and exciting field. Comments from reviewers and discussions with numerous colleagues in the field were most helpful, much appreciated and improved this publication. I.H. acknowledges support for her research by the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich. Thanks to laboratory technical support for their dedicated work. Numerous researchers from various disciplines and countries are thanked for fruitful collaborations. P.A. and M.H.G. acknowledge the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/S011854/1; NEIF) and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) for funding and support. They express their gratitude to colleagues at the SUERC for stimulating discussion and ideas, providing dedicated technical support and fruitful academic collaborations. S.J.F. acknowledges support from the Research School of Earth Sciences and the Australian National University (ANU), and R. Wood and R. Esmay for their dedication to and support of the ANU Radiocarbon Laboratory. C.L.P. acknowledges support from the Malcolm H. Wiener Foundation, University of Arizona and members of the IntCal Working Group. K.L.S. acknowledges support of her research from the Swedish Research Council (542-2013-8358), Strategic Research Program for Diabetes at Karolinska Institutet (C5471152), Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF12OC1016064, NNF20OC0063944), Vallee Foundation Vallee Scholar Award (C5471234) and Karolinska Institutet/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardiometabolic Centre (H725701603). G.Q. expresses gratitude to colleagues of the Centre of Applied Physics, Dating and Diagnostics at University of Salento for their friendship, continued support, and restless and dedicated work. H.Y. and M.Y. thank the Laboratory of Radiocarbon Dating team at the University Museum of The University of Tokyo for their relentless effort to improve the precision and accuracy of radiocarbon dating together with field archaeologists and researchers in Japan and the world. I.H. and G.Q. acknowledge the inspiration and stimulating discussions with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) staff and colleagues within the Coordinated Research Projects: Enhancing Nuclear Analytical Techniques to Meet the Needs of Forensic Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Irka Hajdas

  2. NEIF Radiocarbon Laboratory, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride, UK

    Philippa Ascough & Mark H. Garnett

  3. Radiocarbon Laboratory, Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Stewart J. Fallon

  4. Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Charlotte L. Pearson

  5. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Charlotte L. Pearson

  6. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Charlotte L. Pearson

  7. CEDAD — Centre for Applied Physics, Dating and Diagnostics, Department of Mathematics and Physics ‘Ennio de Giorgi’, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

    Gianluca Quarta

  8. INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics) — Lecce Section, Lecce, Italy

    Gianluca Quarta

  9. Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Kirsty L. Spalding

  10. Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan

    Haruka Yamaguchi & Minoru Yoneda

  11. The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Minoru Yoneda

Authors
  1. Irka Hajdas
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  2. Philippa Ascough
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  5. Charlotte L. Pearson
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  6. Gianluca Quarta
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  7. Kirsty L. Spalding
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  8. Haruka Yamaguchi
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  9. Minoru Yoneda
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Contributions

Introduction (I.H., P.A., C.L.P. and G.Q.); Experimentation (I.H., P.A., M.H.G., C.L.P. and G.Q.); Results (I.H., P.A., M.H.G., C.L.P. and G.Q.); Applications (I.H., P.A., M.H.G., S.J.F., C.L.P., G.Q., K.L.S., H.Y. and M.Y.); Reproducibility and data deposition (I.H., P.A., M.H.G., C.L.P. and G.Q.); Limitations and optimizations (I.H., P.A., M.H.G., C.L.P., G.Q. and K.L.S.); Outlook (I.H., P.A., M.H.G., C.L.P., G.Q. and K.L.S.); Overview of the Primer (I.H.).

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Correspondence to Irka Hajdas.

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Nature Reviews Methods Primers thanks R. Bhushan, L. Regev, P. Reimer, S. Woodborne and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Related links

14CARHU: https://www.oasisnorth.org/carhu.html

CALIBomb: http://calib.org/CALIBomb/

Gliwice Radiocarbon Laboratory: http://www.carbon14.pl/IB_Grdb/index.html

IntCal data: http://intcal.org/

New Zealand Radiocarbon Database: https://www.waikato.ac.nz/nzcd/

ORAU: https://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/databases.html

radiocarbon.org: https://radiocarbon.webhost.uits.arizona.edu/node/11

Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage: http://c14.kikirpa.be/search.php

Supplementary information

Glossary

Global carbon cycle

Exchanges of carbon between carbon reservoirs, including the atmosphere, biosphere, oceans and sedimentary deposits.

Radiocarbon calibration curves

Experimental reconstructions of past atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) recorded in tree rings and other independently dated samples such as speleothems, marine corals and laminated sediments.

Compound-specific radiocarbon analysis

(CSRA). Radiocarbon analysis of individual organic compounds (biomarkers) such as lipids, fatty acids, proteins and waxes of a specific molecular size after chromatographic separation.

Isobar

An atom of different elements or molecules with the same atomic mass as another.

Archives

Natural records of information about the past environment, such as sediments, soils, peat bogs, cave deposits, corals and tree rings.

Reservoir effect

An apparent age of material due to mixed carbon sources when old carbon is added to atmospheric CO2.

Speleothem

A secondary mineral deposit such as calcite, aragonite or gypsum formed in caves by flowing or dripping water.

Isotope fractionation

The enrichment of one isotope relative to another owing to chemical reactions or physical processes.

Constant mass contamination correction

The mass and radiocarbon (14C) signature of contamination as evaluated for a specific preparation process to correct for exogenous carbon introduced to samples containing tens of micrograms of carbon.

Marine radiocarbon reservoir effect

(MRE). An offset in radiocarbon (14C) age between contemporaneous organisms from the terrestrial environment and organisms that derive their carbon from the marine environment.

Freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effect

(FRE). Anomalously old radiocarbon ages of samples from lakes and rivers due to water rich in dissolved radiocarbon (14C)-free calcium carbonates.

Dead carbon fraction

The amount of radioactively dead carbon that reduces the radiocarbon (14C) content in speleothems.

Diagenesis

A combination of physical, chemical and biological processes that occur in a sample after deposition.

Phytolith

A silica structure formed in plant tissues by the uptake and storage of silica from soil, which occludes and preserves organic carbon.

Proxy data

Data gathered from natural archives of climate variability, such as tree rings, ice cores, fossil pollen, ocean sediments, coral and historical data.

Solar energetic particle

A high-energy particle such as protons, electrons and high-energy nuclei coming from the Sun.

Mycorrhizal

The exchange of photosynthesized carbon for mineral nutrients obtained by symbiotic fungi.

Saprotrophic

Describes an organism that feeds on non-living organic matter and has the ability to decompose.

Ventilation

The amount of time since a water molecule last interacted with the atmosphere.

Curve of knowns

The first radiocarbon ages of well-dated historic items and wood published in 1949 by Arnold and Libby, proving the principle of the method.

Vinci and Stradivarius age plateaus

The time periods 1450–1650 Common Era (CE) and 1700–1950 CE marked by a flattening of the calibration curve where calibrated ages result in multiple intervals.

Bayesian wiggle-matching

The calibration of a sequence of radiocarbon ages with a known time gap between them, such as the number of tree rings.

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Hajdas, I., Ascough, P., Garnett, M.H. et al. Radiocarbon dating. Nat Rev Methods Primers 1, 62 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-021-00058-7

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