UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTY OF PHYSICS

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2026-06-11 23:58
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Conference: Bucharest University Faculty of Physics 2026 Meeting


Section: Solid State Physics and Materials Science


Title:
Statistical evaluation of pretreatment methods for radiocarbon dating of bones. An adaptation for Romanian archaeological materials


Authors:
Oana Daniela CALANCEA(1,2), Corina Anca SIMION(1), Cristian MANAILESCU(1), Mihaela ENACHESCU(1), Adina BORONEANȚ(2)


*
Affiliation:
1) 1 Horia Hulubei National Institute for Research-Development in Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30 Reactorului St, P.O. Box MG 6, 077125, Magurele-Ilfov, Romania

2) 2 Vasile Parvan Institute of Archaeology, 11 Henri Coanda St, 010667, Bucharest, Romania



E-mail
E-mail: calancea.od.nipne@gmail.com Corresponding authors: anke@nipne.ro, boro30@gmail.com


Keywords:
Keywords: osteoarchaeology, radiocarbon dating, statistical analysis of data, pretreatment methods, reliability of radiocarbon primary data


Abstract:
The application of pre‑screening criteria and statistical analysis to material from several archaeological sites has highlighted the specific characteristics of osteological remains preserved under the geo‑climatic conditions of southeastern Romania [1]. These results indicate several key considerations for the subsequent pretreatment stage aimed at obtaining datable collagen. First, the commonly used selection criterion of N% > 0.80% [2] is not sufficient to distinguish between datable and non‑datable uncremated bones. Instead, the C:N atomic ratio [2] emerges as the dominant parameter. Furthermore, statistical evaluation of the pre‑screening data shows that some pretreatment methods—although standardized and widely applied [3–6]—do not statistically lead to the recovery of datable collagen, whereas other literature based methods developed at the RoAMS laboratory [7-10] provide a significantly higher likelihood of success. In the second part of the study, statistical analysis is performed using the PAST 5 software package [11] to assess the quality of the extracted collagen and, consequently, the reliability of the radiocarbon results. The evaluation considers several parameters: collagen yield per gram of raw bone; overall process efficiency; N%, C%, and C:N atomic ratio of the collagen; indicators of graphitization quality (specific EA–AGE3 system parameters will be briefly presented); and δ¹³C ‰, used as a general process parameter governing AMS data correction [12–15]. Finally, the statistical outcomes from the pre‑screening phase are compared with those obtained during pretreatment and graphitization, up to the preparation of AMS cathodes prior to accelerator measurement. The resulting radiocarbon dates will ultimately be interpreted in collaboration with the archaeologist, representing the final stage of this experimental study.


References:

[1] Calancea et al. 2026, Searching for new pre-screening criteria of 14C dating of osseous materials. An adaptation for Romanian archaeological samples, Romanian Reports in Physics, Vol. 78, Article No. 801.

[2] Brock et al. 2010, Pre-screening techniques for identification of samples suitable for radiocarbon

dating of poorly preserved bones, Journal of Archaeological Science , Vol. 37, pp. 855–865.

[3] Brock et al. 2010, Current pretreatment methods for AMS radiocarbon dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU), Radiocarbon, Vol. 52(1), pp. 103–112.

[4] Bronk Ramsey, et al. 2004, Improvements to the pretreatment of bone at Oxford, Proceedings of the 18th International Radiocarbon Conference, edited by N Beavan Athfield and R J Sparks, Radiocarbon, Vol. 46(1), pp. 155–163.

[5] Hajdas et al. 2009, Dating bones near the limit of the radiocarbon dating method: study case mammoth from Niederweningen, ZH Switzerland, Radiocarbon, Vol. 51(2), pp. 675–680.

[6] Fülöp et al. 2013, Ultrafiltration of bone samples is neither the problem nor the solution, Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference edited by A J T Jull & C Hatté, Radiocarbon, Vol. 55(2–3), pp. 491–500.

[7] Olsson 2000, Further tests of the EDTA treatment of bones, Radiocarbon, Vol. 42(1), pp. 49–52.

[8] Maspero et al. 2011, A new procedure for extraction of collagen from modern and archaeological bones for 14C dating, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Vol. 401, pp. 2019–2023.

[9] Tuross, 2012, Comparative decalcification methods, radiocarbon dates, and stable isotopes of the VIRI bones, Proceedings of the 6th International Radiocarbon and Archaeology Symposium, edited by E Boaretto and N R Rebollo Franco, Radiocarbon, Vol. 54(3–4), pp. 837–844.

[10] Olsen 2013, A multi‑isotope investigation of two Medieval German populations: Insight into the relationship among diet, disease, and tissue isotopic compositions (Master’s thesis). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository, 1573.

[11] Hammer 202, PAST: Paleontological Statistics software package (Version 5.3) [Computer software]. Natural History Museum, University of Oslo. https://www.nhm.uio.no/english/research/infrastructure/past/

[12] Wacker, L., Němec, M., & Bourquin, J. (2010a). A revolutionary graphitization system: Fully automated, compact and simple. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 268(7–8), 931–934.

[13] Sava et al. 2019, Status report on the sample preparation laboratory for radiocarbon dating at the new Bucharest RoAMS Center, Radiocarbon, Vol. 61(2), pp. 649-658.

[14] Stan‑Sion 2015, A new and compact system at the AMS laboratory in Bucharest, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, Vol. 361, pp. 105–109.

15] Wacker, L., Christl, M., & Synal, H.-A. (2010b). BATS: A new tool for AMS data reduction. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B, 268(7–8), 976–979.



Acknowledgement:
The radiocarbon dating was carried out within the NUCLEU project, project PN 23210201 and PN 23210102, financed by the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization Romania. The experiments were carried out at the1MV Tandetron™ accelerator from Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), and were supported by the Romanian Government Program through National Program for Infrastructure of National Interest (IOSIN funds).