“Asphalt in carbon-14-dated archaeological samples from Terqa, Syria,”
Nature 295 (no. 5849), 517-519.
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This paper defines the possible analysis of the role of asphalt in defining a precise radiocarbon (C14) dating. As stated by the authors at the very beginning: “The presence of fossil fuel compounds in archaeological samples giving ages much higher than expected has long suspected” (p. 517). The present contribution offers a description of a calibration of radiocarbon dating avoiding the influence of mistaking data caused by the presence of asphalt traces in archaeological samples, mostly focusing on specimens taken from the archaeological site of Terqa, in Syria.
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