Abstract
The chronological framework of European protohistory is mostly a relative chronology based on typology and stratigraphic data. Synchronization of different time periods suffers from a lack of absolute dates; therefore, disagreements between different chronological schemes are difficult to reconcile. An alternative approach was applied in this study to build a more precise and accurate absolute chronology. To the best of our knowledge, we have collected all the published 14C dates for the archaeological sites in the region from the Ebro River (Spain) to the Middle Danube Valley (Austria) for the period 1800-750 BC. The available archaeological information associated with the 14C dates was organized in a database that totaled more than 1600 14C dates. In order to build an accurate and precise chronology, quality selection rules have been applied to the 14C dates based on both archaeological context and analytical quality. Using the OxCal software and Bayesian analysis, several 14C time sequences were created following the archaeological data and different possible scenarios were tested in northern Italy and southern France.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 851-869 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Radiocarbon |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Funding
Obra Social la Caixa; Asociacio d'Universitats Catalanes (Programa RecerCaixa) [RECER2010-05]; Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation, under the program CONSOLIDER-INGENIO [CSD2010-00034]; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [HAR2012-31036] This research has been possible thanks to the funds of the Departament d'Universitats, Recerca i Societat de la Informacio of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It is also part of the project PADICAT ("Patrimoni Digital Arqueologic de Catalunya"), funded by the Obra Social la Caixa and the Asociacio d'Universitats Catalanes (Programa RecerCaixa, RECER2010-05) and the project "Social and environmental transitions: Simulating the Past to understand human behavior," funded by the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation, under the program CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010, CSD2010-00034. We also acknowledge funds from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, through the Grant No. HAR2012-31036. We thank David Uwakwe for the revision of the text. GC wishes to thank all the people who help him in the difficult work of collecting the database and all the staff of the D-REAMS Radiocarbon Laboratory at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where this article was developed during a research period funded by the Department d'Economia i Coneixement of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Archaeology
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences