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Development of Radiocarbon Dating Method for Degraded Bone Samples from Korean Archaeological Sites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

K J Kim ,
W Hong ,
J H Park ,
H J Woo ,
G Hodgins ,
A J T Jull ,
Y J Lee  and
J Y Kim
K J Kim*
Affiliation:
Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305–350, Korea.
W Hong
Affiliation:
Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305–350, Korea.
J H Park
Affiliation:
Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305–350, Korea.
H J Woo
Affiliation:
Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305–350, Korea.
G Hodgins
Affiliation:
NSF Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1118 E. Fourth St. Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
A J T Jull
Affiliation:
NSF Arizona AMS Laboratory, University of Arizona, 1118 E. Fourth St. Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
Y J Lee
Affiliation:
Institute of Korean Prehistory, 890 Bongmyung-dong Heungduk-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, Korea.
J Y Kim
Affiliation:
Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 92 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305–350, Korea.
*
Corresponding author. Email: kjkim@kigam.re.kr.
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Abstract

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The development of radiocarbon dating for degraded bone samples collected at Korean archaeological sites has been successful through the characterization of raw bone C/N ratios and application of an ultrafiltration method. It was found that the C/N ratios of raw bone samples are inversely proportional to the carbon content and residue amount after gelatinization. We have examined a few dozen Korean archaeological bone samples for this study. Well-preserved bone samples are found to be physically dense. The range of C/N ratios of Korean raw bone samples ranged from 3.4 to 74. We found that the C/N ratios of degraded raw bone samples can be used to determine whether 14C samples are acceptable for normal pretreatment processing and eventual dating. The results of this study support that even if the C/N ratio of a degraded raw bone sample is 11, extraction of collagen for bone dating is feasible by a carefully designed ultrafiltration process. Our preliminary 14C dating results of a depth profile of Gunang-gul Cave, an archaeological site in Danyang, Korea, indicate that this site has been either geologically or anthropologically disturbed in the past, with 14C ages ranging from 28,910 ± 200 to 48,090 ± 1050 yr BP. The C/N ratios of the collagen samples of Gunang-gul were determined to be 3.2–3.6. Our study establishes a new guide for the pretreatment of degraded bone samples such as those collected in Korea for 14C dating.

Type
Methods, Applications, and Developments
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 53 , Issue 1 , 2011 , pp. 129 - 135
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

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