Gordon Cook

• Managing Director at University of Glasgow

This volume presents a detailed catalogue of the radiocarbon dates funded by English Heritage between April 2010 and March 2015. In total, details of 1346 determinations are provided, including information about 42 radiocarbon dates undertaken in support of research funded by the aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) between April 2010 and Mar...

In this second part, we analyse from new radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating of landforms, palaeo-environmental analyses of sediment stratigraphies and documentary evidence for land use, the ‘high road’ to Stirling, across high ground west of the coastal plain, in the early 14th century. We identify a number of significant mis-perceptions of the landscape in...

Bannockburn is of immense importance in the Medieval histories of England and Scotland. Where the battle took place is still unknown, as is the terrain, what the place looked like. The two parts of this paper examine these problems by generating new data on environmental and land use reconstruction. The physical appearance of the landscape was reco...

Given the complexity of the radiocarbon dating process, the diversity of materials being dated, the continued technical developments, GIRI (the Glasgow international radiocarbon intercomparison) is the next development of the series of intercomparisons to support continuing quality assurance. GIRI has been designed to continue this programme and to...

Radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) dating by liquid scintillation (LS) spectroscopy (also known as LS counting or LSC) provides an alternate method of ¹⁴ C analysis where accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) analysis is less desirable. The past, present, and future applications of the method are discussed.

A programme of dendrochronology was undertaken on timbers at the Ship Inn, Exeter, Devon. Cores from four of the eight sampled oak timbers proved suitable for analysis but the ring-width series obtained did not correlate with each other, nor did they correlate with oak reference chronologies from the British Isles or elsewhere in Europe. Following...

The site of Nokalakevi, in western Georgia, has seen significant excavation since 1973. including, since 2001, a collaborative Anglo-Georgian project. However, the interpretation of the site has largely rested on architectural analysis of standing remains and the relative dating of deposits based on the study of ceramics. Since 2013, the Anglo-Geor...

The Dating the Earliest Neolithic Ceramics of Wessex project was part of a training programme in the Bayesian chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates funded by Historic England. Its original scope was to target ceramic assemblages for dating in four areas: the Middle Thames, the Avebury area, the Stonehenge area of Salisbury Plain, and an area...

We present and model new radiocarbon data for the Neolithic marshes of Marais de Saint-Gond Marne in France. We then provide the first radiocarbon-based synthesis of human activity in this region. The earliest flint mine pits dug in France were dated to between 7518 and 7356 cal BC (95% probability) in the Mesolithic period. A Neolithic sequence of...

This paper presents the first modern account of Torwood’s artefact assemblage and the most accurate survey of the site to date. These are combined with the results of a small-scale excavation on a newly discovered outer rampart and the publication for the first time of a reused concentric ring-marked stone and a carved face. In turn, these are comb...

Chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates from Stonehenge

Forty samples from the nave, south aisle, and porch of this church were subject to tree-ring dating; three of these also underwent radiocarbon and wiggle-match analysis. Three nave timbers were dendrochronologically dated to AD 1581--1606 and two to c AD 1616. A further nine timbers from this roof have now been dated by radiocarbon wiggle-matching...

Программа сопоставления данных лабораторий радиоуглеродного датирования проводится более 30 лет и со временем развивалась в соответствии с меняющимися технологиями. В этой небольшой статье основное вни- мание уделяется различным материалам, которые используются для процедуры сопоставления, и очень кратко рассматриваются некоторые из возникших пробл...

New radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) dates suggest a simultaneous appearance of two technologically and geographically distinct axe production practices in Neolithic Britain; igneous open-air quarries in Great Langdale, Cumbria, and from flint mines in southern England at ~4000–3700 cal BC. In light of the recent evidence that farming was introduced at this tim...

The extent to which non-agricultural production in prehistory had cost-benefit motivations has long been a subject of discussion. This paper addresses the topic by looking at the evidence for Neolithic quarrying and mining in Britain and continental northwest Europe and asks whether changing production through time was influenced by changing demand...

Presents the initial results of an ongoing review into the Late Prehistoric settlement record of the Forth Valley and proposes a new classification of stone-walled circular-built sites combining scale of structure (as a proxy to effort of construction) with architectural complexity, in order to more clearly differentiate the potential complexity of...

This study tests whether accurate dating by AMS radiocarbon wiggle-matching short tree-ring series (c. 30 annual rings) in the period after AD 1510 can be achieved routinely. Such an approach has proved problematic for some intervals in the period AD 1160–1541 (Bayliss et al., 2017), which are before single-year calibration data are available (Stui...

This paper presents the results of δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S isotope analyses on archaeological faunal remains from deposits dated c. 400–200 cal BCE at two Iron Age sites in Wessex: Suddern Farm and Danebury hillfort, Hampshire. The aim was to investigate diet and mobility within the populations and across a range of animal species. The results demonst...

New radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling have refined understanding of the character and circumstances of flint mining at Grime's Graves through time. The deepest, most complex galleried shafts were worked probably from the third quarter of the 27th century cal bc and are amongst the earliest on the site. Their use ended in the decades ar...

The best method for quantifying the marine reservoir effect (MRE) using the global IntCal Marine13 calibration curve remains unresolved. Archaeologists frequently quantify uncertainty on MRE values as errors computed from single pairs of marine-terrestrial radiocarbon ages, which we argue significantly overstates their accuracy and precision. Here,...

The contamination of food with pesticide residues is of significant concern to consumers and legislation has been implemented worldwide to ensure compliance with Maximum Residue Levels of chemicals in food. The occurrence of the potato sprout inhibitor, isopropyl N-(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate (chlorpropham or CIPC) residues on cereals, such as wheat...

Results and analysis of the excavation of an Iron Age settlement at Keir Hill of Gargunnock, Stirling, placing the site into a broader cultural and chronological context.

The loss of the sprout suppressant, chlorpropham (CIPC), to the fabric of potato stores is currently of concern due to the risk of potential cross contamination of other crops subsequently housed in these stores. HPLC UV/VIS and GCMS methods were successfully employed to detect CIPC in the concrete flooring of research and commercial potato stores...

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/nature25738.

Sellafield marine discharges of 14C are the largest contributor to the global collective dose from the nuclear fuel industry. As such, it is important to understand the fate of these discharges beyond the limitations and scope of empirical analytical investigations for this highly mobile radioactive contaminant. Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) is widely...

From around 2750 to 2500 BC, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 BC. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in this process. Here we present genome-wide...

Isopropyl-N-(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate (CIPC, common name Chlorpropham) is commonly used for post-harvest sprout inhibition in stored potatoes. It is applied as a thermal fog which results in loss to the fabric of the store and the atmosphere. Recently, there have been concerns in the United Kingdom because of cross contamination of other crop comm...

Radiocarbon wiggle-match dating is a technique that can combine the versatility of radiocarbon dating with chronological information from tree-rings. This makes it useful in contexts where timbers are preserved, but dendrochronological dating is impossible. As intertidal and marine timbers are waterlogged, this can favor their preservation and henc...

There are at least four wooden intertidal platforms, also known as marine crannogs, in the Firth of Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The interpretation of these sites partly depends on their dating and, if coeval, they could point to the presence of a native maritime hub. Furthermore, the spatial coincidence with the terminus of the Antonine W...

Archaeological evidence points to substantial changes in Bronze Age societies in the European-Mediterranean region. Isotope geochemical proxies have been compiled to provide independent ancillary data to improve the paleoenvironmental history for the period of interest and support the interpretation of the archaeological observations. In addition t...

We present δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S measurements on archaeological human and animal bone collagen samples from a shell midden dating to the Neolithic ca. 4000– 3500 cal BC, together with measurements on modern fish and shellfish. These data were used in conjunction with the Bayesian mixing model, Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transferred Signals (...

Archaeological fieldwork preceding housing development revealed a Mesolithic site in a primary context. A central hearth was evident from a cluster of calcined flint and bone, the latter producing a modelled date for the start of occupation at 8220–7840 cal bc and ending at 7960–7530 cal bc (95% probability). The principal activity was the knapping...

Editorial: A Thank You from the Conference Chairman - Volume 59 Issue 5 - Gordon Cook

Radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) wiggle-match dating is a technique with a substantial potential to improve the precision of dating timbers in situations where dendrochronology is not tenable. However, one of the key reasons why obtaining a dendrochronological determination might be difficult is the short-lived nature of timbers on a range of archaeological sit...

Radiocarbon (14C) has been measured in single tree ring samples collected from the southwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant. Our data indicate south-westwards dispersion of radiocarbon and the highest 14C activity observed so far in the local environment during the 2011 accident. The abnormally high 14C activity in the late wood of 2...

Radiocarbon measurement is a well-established, routinely used, yet complex series of inter-linked procedures. The degree of sample pre-treatment varies considerably depending on the material, the methods of processing pre-treated material vary across laboratories and the detection of ¹⁴C at low levels remains challenging. As in any complex measurem...

To evaluate the transfer of Sellafield-derived radiocarbon (¹⁴C) to top predators in the UK marine environment, ¹⁴C activities were examined in stranded marine mammals. All samples of harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) obtained from the Irish Sea showed ¹⁴C enrichment above background. Mammal samples obtained from the West of Scotland, including...

Objectives: The nature of land use and mobility during the transition to agriculture has often been debated. Here, we use isotope analysis of tooth enamel from human populations buried in two different Neolithic burial monuments, Penywyrlod and Ty Isaf, in south-east Wales, to examine patterns of land use and to evaluate where individuals obtained...

This study tested whether accurate dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon wiggle-matching of short tree-ring series (~30 annual rings) in the Medieval period could be achieved. Scientific dating plays a central role in the conservation of historic buildings in England. Precise dating helps assess the significance of particular bu...

Radiocarbon dating and wiggle match analysis was undertaken on a series of five single-year samples from each of three cores taken from oak and elm timbers thought to be associated with the primary construction phase of 91 High Street, St Mary Cray. The analysis suggests that the timbers were all felled in cal AD 1370– 1395 (95% probability), thus...

This report contains details of the radiocarbon determinations obtained on samples from Brunel Court. A chronological model incorporating radiocarbon and dendrochronoloical dates provides an outline chronological framework for the site.

Bell Beaker pottery spread across western and central Europe beginning around 2750 BCE before disappearing between 2200-1800 BCE. The mechanism of its expansion is a topic of long-standing debate, with support for both cultural diffusion and human migration. We present new genome-wide ancient DNA data from 170 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age E...

This article presents new values for the Scottish marine radiocarbon reservoir effect (MRE) during the Mesolithic at 4540–4240 BC (6490–6190 BP) and the Medieval period at AD 1460–1630 (490–320 BP). The results give a ΔR of –126±39 ¹⁴ C yr for the Mesolithic and of –130±36 ¹⁴ C yr for the Medieval. We recalculate previously published MRE values for...

Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH), on the north Pacific Coast of British Columbia, contains at least 157 shell middens, of which 66 are known villages, in an area of approximately 180 km2. These sites span the last 9500 yr and in some cases are immense, exceeding 20,000 m2 surface area and several meters in depth. Recent archaeological research in PRH ha...

Wor Barrow is a well-known Neolithic 'long' barrow in Cranborne Chase, excavated in 1893–4 by General Pitt Rivers, and first radiocarbon-dated by Richard Bradley. Excavations were exceptionally well recorded and published by Pitt Rivers in 1898. Many of the key artefacts were kept and are still curated at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, a...

Radiocarbon dating is a valuable tool for the forensic examination of human remains in answering questions as to whether the remains are of forensic or medico-legal interest or archaeological in date. The technique is also potentially capable of providing the year of birth and/or death of an individual. Atmospheric radiocarbon levels are currently...

The Mesolithic–Early Neolithic radiocarbon record for the Iron Gates is compared against the regional paleoclimatic record. Well‑marked minima in the frequency of radiocarbon dates at ca. 9.5–9.0 ka, 8.65–8.0 ka and after 7.8 ka cal B.P. coincide with “rapid climate change events” recorded in Greenland ice cores and paleoclimate archives from the D...

The Mesolithic-Early Neolithic radiocarbon record for the Iron Gates is compared against the regional paleoclimatic record. Well-marked minima in the frequency of radiocarbon dates at ca. 9.5-9.0 ka, 8.65-8.0 ka and after 7.8 ka cal B.P. coincide with “rapid climate change events” recorded in Greenland ice cores and paleoclimate archives from the D...

Ecosystem uptake and transfer processes of Sellafield-derived radiocarbon (¹⁴C) within the Irish Sea were examined. Highly variable activities in sediment, seawater and biota indicate complex ¹⁴C dispersal and uptake dynamics. All east basin biota exhibited ¹⁴C enrichments above ambient background while most west basin biota had ¹⁴C activities clos...

Radiocarbon activities were measured in annual tree rings for the years 2009 to 2015 from Japanese cedar trees (Cryptomeria japonica) collected at six sites ranging from 2.5–38 km northwest and north of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The ¹⁴C specific activity varied from 280.4 Bq kg⁻¹ C in 2010 to 226.0 Bq kg⁻¹ C in 2015. The elevated...

Ecosystem uptake and transfer of Sellafield-derived radiocarbon (¹⁴C) were examined within the West of Scotland marine environment. The dissolved inorganic carbon component of seawater, enriched in ¹⁴C, is transported to the West of Scotland where it is transferred through the marine food web. Benthic and pelagic biota with variable life-spans livi...

The methodology for correcting radiocarbon (14C) ages for a marine reservoir effect is now reasonably well defined, while a similar correction for a freshwater reservoir effect has been demonstrated to be feasible under certain circumstances. However, adjusting radiocarbon ages to account for both sources of non-terrestrial carbon has proven challe...

Poster presented by Leisa Douglas at the EAPR Post Harvest Section meeting (June 2016)

Correcting radiocarbon (14C) ages for a marine reservoir effect is now reasonably well defined, while a similar correction for a freshwater reservoir effect has been demonstrated to be feasible under certain circumstances. However, adjusting radiocarbon ages to account for both sources of non-terrestrial carbon has proven challenging. Traditionally...

Radiocarbon dates have been obtained from a log-coffin burial excavated in 1864 by Canon William Greenwell from a ditched round barrow at Scale House, near Rylstone, North Yorkshire. The oak tree-trunk coffin had contained an extended body wrapped in a wool textile. The body had entirely decayed and there were no other extant grave goods. In the ab...

A 50-year-old Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) from Okuma, ∼1 km southwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, was cored and each annual ring was analysed for (14)C. The (14)C specific activity values varied from 330.4 Bq kg(-1) C in the tree ring formed in 1971 to 231.2 Bq kg(-1) C in the 2014 ring. During the periods 1971-1976 and...

Since 1998 archaeological investigations on Holme-next-the-Sea beach have recorded the waterlogged remains of two Bronze Age timber circles, timber structures, coppiced trees, metal objects, and salt- and freshwater marshes. The second timber circle (Holme II) is only the third waterlogged structure of its type to be discovered in Britain and only...

Japanese cedar leaves from Iwaki, Fukushima were analyzed for carbon, cesium and iodine isotopic compositions before and after the 2011 nuclear accident. The Δ14C values reflect ambient atmospheric 14C concentrations during the year the leaves were sampled/defoliated, and also previous year(s). The elevated 129I and 134,137Cs concentrations are att...

Iodine has 37 isotopes; 127-I, which is the only stable isotope, and 129-I, which has the longest half-life at 15.7 million years, are the two of interest in this study. More than 70% of the mobile iodine in the environment is found in the world’s oceans. 90% of 129-I in the oceans is anthropogenic and 95% of the anthropogenic 129-I can be traced b...

The nuclear energy industry produces radioactive waste at various stages of the fuel cycle. In the United Kingdom, spent fuel is reprocessed at the Sellafield facility in Cumbria on the North West coast of En-gland. Waste generated at the site comprises a wide range of radionuclides including radiocarbon (14 C) which is disposed of in various forms...

Climente II cave, Iron Gates, Romania was excavated in 1968-9. Human remains were recovered from contexts identified as ‘Clisurean’ (Final Epigravettian), along with ca 6000 chipped stone artifacts, bone tools including awls, arrowheads and a fragment of a harpoon, and shell and animal tooth ornaments. This article presents a re-evaluation of the a...

Objectives: A previous multi-isotope study of archaeological faunal samples from Skútustaðir, an early Viking age settlement on the southern shores of Lake Mývatn in north-east Iceland, demonstrated that there are clear differences in δ(34) S stable isotope values between animals deriving their dietary protein from terrestrial, freshwater, and mar...

The offshore islands of the North Atlantic were among some of the last settled places on earth, with humans reaching the Faroes and Iceland in the late Iron Age and Viking period. While older accounts emphasizing deforestation and soil erosion have presented this story of island colonization as yet another social–ecological disaster, recent archaeo...

Stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in human bone collagen are used routinely to aid in the reconstruction of ancient diets. Isotopic analysis of human remains from sites in the Iron Gates section of the Lower Danube Valley has led to conflicting interpretations of Mesolithic diets in this key region of southeast Europe. One view...

Nehlich and Borić (2015) regard our critique of their original study (Nehlich et al. 2010) as unfair in several respects. In the first place, they maintain that Nehlich et al. (2010) was merely a “pilot study,” and this accounts for the limited data set on which their conclusions were based. The title of the paper, however, describes it as a case s...

From 1994 onwards, 14C discharges from Sellafield have been made largely to the Northeast Irish Sea. They represent the largest contributor to UK and European populations of the collective dose commitment derived from the entire nuclear industry discharges. Consequently, it is important to understand the long-term fate of 14C in the marine environm...

A 30-year-old Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica), collected from Iwaki, Fukushima in 2014, was analyzed for the long-lived radionuclide (14)C. Values of Δ(14)C varied from 211.7‰ in 1984 to 16.9‰ in 2013. The temporal Δ(14)C variation can be described as an exponential decline, indistinguishable from the general Northern Hemisphere Zone 2 (NH Zo...

To aid in the development of a biological profile for human remains found in Collyhurst (Manchester, England), we undertook radiocarbon analysis of tooth enamel, tooth collagen, and bone collagen on behalf of the Greater Manchester Police. On the basis of the analyses of the teeth, we concluded that the person was born between 1950 and 1954, while...

Archaeological investigations in the Iron Gates reach of the Lower Danube Valley between 1964 and 1984 revealed an important concentration of Stone Age sites, which together provide the most detailed record of Mesolithic and Early Neolithic settlement from any area of southeastern Europe. Over 425 human burials were excavated from 15 sites. Of thes...

Archaeological investigations in the Iron Gates reach of the Lower Danube Valley between 1964 and 1984 revealed an important concentration of Stone Age sites, which together provide the most detailed record of Mesolithic and Early Neolithic settlement from any area of southeastern Europe. Over 425 human burials were excavated from 15 sites. Of thes...

Radiocarbon laboratories undertake rigorous programmes of internal quality control (QC) and overall quality assurance (QA). In a laboratory "inter-comparison" samples of the same age are dated at different laboratories using a range of techniques and the results are then compared. The authors summarise the results of the fourth of these scientific...

The Norse/Viking occupation of Greenland is part of a dispersal of communities across the North Atlantic coincident with the supposed Medieval Warm Period of the late 1st millennium AD. The abandonment of the Greenland settlements has been linked to climatic deterioration in the Little Ice Age as well as other possible explanations. There are signi...

Conventional methods for the determination of past soil erosion provide only average rates of erosion of the sediment’s source areas and are unable to determine the rate of at-a-site soil loss. In this study, we report in-situ produced cosmogenic 10Be, and 14C measurements from erratic boulders and two depth-profiles from Younger Dryas moraines in...