Radiocarbon Dating of Iron Artifacts

Bibliographic Data

ID9242580
AuthorsRichard G Cresswell (0000-0002-1629-9479)
Year1992
Volume34
Issue3
Pages898-905
Publication date1992-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0033822200064225
OpenAlexW2230039274
LanguageEN
Citations received20
References cited13

During the late 1960s, N. J. van der Merwe (1969) obtained 14 C measurements on 11 iron pieces, ranging in carbon content from medium carbon (0.22%) wrought iron (1.2 kg used) to high carbon (3.2%) cast iron (30 g), thereby demonstrating the feasibility of the technique for 14 C dating iron. In the early 1980s, Sayre et al. (1982) repeated two of van der Merwe's measurements, and carried out two analyses on a recently rediscovered Elizabethan(?) iron bloom. Thirty grams were required of this medium carbon wrought iron to obtain an age using small proportional counters. A number of iron artifacts have recently been analyzed by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) at IsoTrace. Samples ranged in size from 3.4 g of a medium carbon (≃0.4%) wrought iron bloom to 274 mg for a high carbon (1.79%) wootz steel fragment. AMS now permits analysis of samples that previously were too small or too valuable to be analyzed. For larger samples, multiple analyses can reveal variations that may aid the evaluation of sample history

Accelerator mass spectrometry · Carbon fibers · Metallurgy · Mineralogy · Radiocarbon dating · Radiochemistry · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Chemistry · Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction · Materials Science · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts · Geology · Paleontology

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