| What is AMS radiocarbon dating?
Radiocarbon dating is based on the premise that plants (and other living things) contain a certain amount of Carbon-14 in their systems while they are alive, an amount that matches the amount of Carbon-14 in the atmosphere. When that plant dies, the amount of Carbon-14 in the plant begins to decay at a fixed rate. When the amount of Carbon-14 fraction remaining in a dead plant is compared to the expected atmospheric Carbon-14, then the timing of that plant's death can be estimated. Wood charcoal from trees that were used as fuel in earth ovens or hearths was collected from the Gee Creek archaeological features for radiocarbon dating.
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) is a type of radiocarbon dating that allows for very small samples to be used in the dating process. This type of radiocarbon dating is also more precise than conventional radiocarbon dating.
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References: Arnold, J. R. and W. F .Libby (1949) "Age Determinations by Radiocarbon Content: Checks with Samples of Known Age," Science 110 (2869): 678–680
| The information provided on this website is modified from the manuscript Archaeological Data Recovery for the I-5/SR 502 Interchange Project, by Michele Punke, Terry Ozbun, Jo Reese, and Brian Buchanan (2009). Archaeological Investigations Northwest, Inc. Report No. 2273. Prepared for Washington Department of Transportation Southwest Region, Vancouver, Washington.