Report on Stage 3 of the International Collaborative Program

Abstract

This report on the third and final stage of the International Collaborative Program concentrates on the analysis of internal and external variability of 14C dates obtained from samples involved in the full 14C dating process. Thirty-eight laboratories took part in this stage with most producing 8 14C dates from 3 sets of duplicate material (eg, wood, shell and peat) and 2 single samples of wood of known ages 190 yr BP apart. From the 3 sets of duplicates for each laboratory, the internal precision of most laboratories was adequate; 6 labs grossly underestimated their internal reproducibility. From the 14C determinations from the 5 distinct samples for each laboratory, we discovered significant systematic biases, often greater than 100 years, in 15 laboratories and even accounting for bias, 12 laboratories had significantly greater external variability than explained by their quoted errors. In total, 23 out of the 38 laboratories in this stage of the study, FAILED to meet these 3 basic criteria for an adequate performance in the production of 14C dates.