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The Use of Raman Spectroscopy to Monitor the Removal of Humic Substances from Charcoal: Quality Control for 14C Dating of Charcoal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Dani Alon ,
Genia Mintz ,
Illit Cohen ,
Steve Weiner  and
Elisabetta Boaretto
Dani Alon
Affiliation:
Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Genia Mintz
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Illit Cohen
Affiliation:
Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Steve Weiner
Affiliation:
Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Elisabetta Boaretto*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences and Energy Research, Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
*
Corresponding author. Email: elisabetta.boaretto@weizmann.ac.il.
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Abstract

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One of the largest sources of uncertainty in radiocarbon dating stems from the sample pretreatment procedures used to minimize contamination. A major source of carbon contamination in charcoal from archaeological sites is humic substances carried by groundwater. Here we present a method, independent of 14C dating itself, to evaluate the effectiveness of the cleaning procedure of charcoal. Raman spectra of mixtures of humic substances (HS) and laboratory prepared charcoal indicate that Raman spectroscopy can be used as a semi-quantitative measure of the amount of humic substances associated with archaeological charcoal. Raman spectral analysis of archaeological charcoal samples subjected to different cleaning regimes supports this contention. Such measurements can provide quality control for charcoal preparation procedures and may assist in the interpretation of carbon-dating results.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , 2002 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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