14C Calibration in the 2nd and 1st Millennia BC—Eastern Mediterranean Radiocarbon Comparison Project (EMRCP)

Abstract

We have measured additional known-age German oak samples in 4 intervals in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC to add to (and to replicate) parts of the international Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon calibration data set. In the 17th, 16th, and 12th centuries BC, our results agree well with IntCal04. In the 14th and 13th centuries BC, however, we observe a significant offset, with our results on average 27 yr older than IntCal04. The previously reported 14C offset between Anatolian juniper trees and central European oaks in the 9th and 8th centuries BC is smaller now, on the basis of our new measurements of German oak, but still evident. In the 17th and 16th centuries BC, the 14C ages from the Anatolian chronology agree well with IntCal04 and our new German oak data.