Radiocarbon dating tooth enamel

Choosing enamel near the cervix of the tooth can reduce the error caused by the difference between the sample formation time and whole enamel formation time because tooth enamel formations take a long time to complete.A proper regional data set will be helpful to get an accurate result when calculating the age of the sample (T1) by the CALIBomb program.Trabecular bone radiocarbon values are closer to the tropospheric values at the date of death than are values from cortical bone reflecting relative differences in the rate of bone remodeling in those tissues. The sample preparation procedures varied somewhat, but were broadly based on procedures found to give satisfactory results on carbon stable isotope measurements.For bird and fish bones, please consult the lab for sufficient sample size.Sample size of 2-4 grams may not be enough for AMS dating after pretreatment.

Bones that have been exposed to water for long periods of time may not have enough collagen.Radiocarbon results were compared with known tropospheric values from the southern hemisphere.The results demonstrate that dental enamel can provide useful information regarding birth dates in consideration of known formation times of the specific teeth examined if the radiocarbon values fall within the modern bomb-curve period.Beta Analytic accepts extracted bone collagen for AMS dating, but it will be listed as “organics” in the final report instead of “bone collagen” due to the lab’s ISO/IEC 17005 accreditation limitations.If Beta Analytic did not perform the chemical pretreatments and/or extractions, the lab cannot specifically testify as to the material that was dated because certain steps affecting the sample quality have been outside of its control and scope of its accreditation.