Short course: Radiocarbon Dating & Bayesian Chronological Analysis
Location: The Atmosphere Room, School of Geography and the Environment, and the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art
Dates: 17th to 19th March, 2027
This course is aimed at researchers using radiocarbon, including archaeologists, paleobiologists, Quaternary geologists, marine geoscientists and those interested in the carbon cycle more broadly. No prior knowledge of radiocarbon is required, and course content is taught through lectures, practical workshops and a laboratory tour.
The first two days of the course will cover key aspects including sample selection, laboratory processes and Bayesian chronological analyses of radiocarbon dates. The course aims to integrate concepts from carbon cycling with chronology.
Workshops on calibration, reservoir effects and chronological modelling will be run throughout the course, giving hands on training on using the OxCal software package. By the end of day 2, participants will be able to build, query and interpret the range of chronological models typically produced in archaeological contexts. The third day of the course will expand on this to look at the construction of Bayesian chronologies more generally, including those that rely primarily on other dating techniques, and there will be a focus on the construction and use of chronological models for environmental records.
The course will be taught by members of the NERC Radiocarbon Facility, based at both Oxford and East Kilbride, and is delivered in a hybrid format. This course aims to become a core component of practical radiocarbon training in the UK.
This course has been developed by the NERC Radiocarbon Facility, which is NERC and AHRC funded and consists of the science-based archaeology node at Oxford (Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit: ORAU) and the environment node at East Kilbride (Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre: SUERC).
The course is taught in the School of Geography and the Environment, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY.
Enquiries: Please email Emma Henderson at: orau@arch.ox.ac.uk
Course Details
Monday
8.30am- Registration
9.00am- Fundamentals of radiocarbon dating
10.00am- Morning break
10.45am- Introduction to calibration*
12.00pm- Lunch
1.15pm Radiocarbon reservoir effects*
3.00pm- Afternoon break
3.30pm- Radiocarbon and the carbon cycle
5.00pm- End of Day 1
7.00pm- Dinner (optional)
Tuesday
9.00am- Sampling and pretreatment
10.15am- Morning break
11.00am- AMS for radiocarbon
12.00pm- Lunch
1.00pm- Introduction to Bayesian Age Modelling*
2.30pm- Afternoon break
3.00pm- Bayesian Age Modelling for archaeological questions*
5.00pm- End of Day 2
Wednesday
9.00am- Introduction to age-depth modelling*
10.15am- Morning break
11.00am- Age-depth modelling continued*
12.00pm- Lunch
1.00pm- Lab tour
2.30pm- Afternoon break
3.00pm- Further age modelling approaches; working with your own data*
5.00pm- End of course
All sessions involve a mixture of lectures, discussions and hands-on workshops. Sessions involving use of the program OxCal are marked *
