Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin

Margot Kuitems; Andrei Panin; Andrea Scifo; Irina Arzhantseva; Yury Kononov; Petra Doeve; Andreas Neocleous; Michael Dee

doi:10.1073/pnas.1921301117

Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin

Margot Kuitems^*, Andrei Panin, Andrea Scifo, Irina Arzhantseva, Yury Kononov, Petra Doeve, Andreas Neocleous, Michael Dee

^*Corresponding author for this work

Isotope Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Inadequate resolution is the principal limitation of radiocarbon dating. However, recent work has shown that exact-year precision is attainable if use can be made of past increases in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration or so-called Miyake events. Here, this nascent method is applied to an archaeological site of previously unknown age. We locate the distinctive radiocarbon signal of the year 775 common era (CE) in wood from the base of the Uyghur monument of Por-Bajin in Russia. Our analysis shows that the construction of Por-Bajin started in the summer of 777 CE, a foundation date that resolves decades of debate and allows the origin and purpose of the building to be established.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	14038-14041
Number of pages	4
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	117
Issue number	25
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1921301117
Publication status	Published - 23-Jun-2020

Keywords

radiocarbon dating
exact-year precision
archaeology
Miyake event
Por-Bajin
SINGLE-YEAR
TREE-RINGS
C-14
CHRONOLOGY
INCREASE

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Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolvesFinal publisher's version, 947 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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title = "Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin",

abstract = "Inadequate resolution is the principal limitation of radiocarbon dating. However, recent work has shown that exact-year precision is attainable if use can be made of past increases in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration or so-called Miyake events. Here, this nascent method is applied to an archaeological site of previously unknown age. We locate the distinctive radiocarbon signal of the year 775 common era (CE) in wood from the base of the Uyghur monument of Por-Bajin in Russia. Our analysis shows that the construction of Por-Bajin started in the summer of 777 CE, a foundation date that resolves decades of debate and allows the origin and purpose of the building to be established.",

keywords = "radiocarbon dating, exact-year precision, archaeology, Miyake event, Por-Bajin, SINGLE-YEAR, TREE-RINGS, C-14, CHRONOLOGY, INCREASE",

author = "Margot Kuitems and Andrei Panin and Andrea Scifo and Irina Arzhantseva and Yury Kononov and Petra Doeve and Andreas Neocleous and Michael Dee",

year = "2020",

month = jun,

day = "23",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1921301117",

language = "English",

volume = "117",

pages = "14038--14041",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

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}

Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin. / Kuitems, Margot; Panin, Andrei; Scifo, Andrea et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 117, No. 25, 23.06.2020, p. 14038-14041.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin

AU - Kuitems, Margot

AU - Panin, Andrei

AU - Scifo, Andrea

AU - Arzhantseva, Irina

AU - Kononov, Yury

AU - Doeve, Petra

AU - Neocleous, Andreas

AU - Dee, Michael

PY - 2020/6/23

Y1 - 2020/6/23

N2 - Inadequate resolution is the principal limitation of radiocarbon dating. However, recent work has shown that exact-year precision is attainable if use can be made of past increases in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration or so-called Miyake events. Here, this nascent method is applied to an archaeological site of previously unknown age. We locate the distinctive radiocarbon signal of the year 775 common era (CE) in wood from the base of the Uyghur monument of Por-Bajin in Russia. Our analysis shows that the construction of Por-Bajin started in the summer of 777 CE, a foundation date that resolves decades of debate and allows the origin and purpose of the building to be established.

AB - Inadequate resolution is the principal limitation of radiocarbon dating. However, recent work has shown that exact-year precision is attainable if use can be made of past increases in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration or so-called Miyake events. Here, this nascent method is applied to an archaeological site of previously unknown age. We locate the distinctive radiocarbon signal of the year 775 common era (CE) in wood from the base of the Uyghur monument of Por-Bajin in Russia. Our analysis shows that the construction of Por-Bajin started in the summer of 777 CE, a foundation date that resolves decades of debate and allows the origin and purpose of the building to be established.

KW - radiocarbon dating

KW - exact-year precision

KW - archaeology

KW - Miyake event

KW - Por-Bajin

KW - SINGLE-YEAR

KW - TREE-RINGS

KW - C-14

KW - CHRONOLOGY

KW - INCREASE

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1921301117

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1921301117

M3 - Article

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 117

SP - 14038

EP - 14041

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 25

ER -

Radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin

Abstract

Keywords

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