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Samples & Recommendations

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Remarks:

⁽¹⁾ The amount necessary for radiocarbon determination strongly depends on the degree of collagen preservation in bone.

⁽²⁾ The amount necessary for radiocarbon determination strongly depends on organic carbon contents in the sample. The numbers given here are based on the assumption of at least 1% organic carbon.

⁽³⁾ The precision of a radiocarbon determination (so-called "laboratory error") depends on the amount of carbon extracted from the sample after the required preparation technique (larger sample = larger precision) and also on the age of sample (older samples = smaller precision).

⁽⁴⁾ Our Staff developed a new method of measuring ¹⁴C in liquid organic flammable materials (patent no. 219401).

⁽⁵⁾ Our Staff developed a new method of measuring ¹⁴C in the vinegar and products with vinegar (patent no. 214976).

Practical recommendations

Try to collect more samples then necessary for one dating to provide material for additional dating check. Estimate whether the amount of sample is sufficient to provide the required dating precision
Try to evaluate possibilities of contamination (e.g. humic acid infiltration from higher layers, root penetration, visible traces of animal activity, geological complications, etc.)
Pack the samples in double plastic cover or plastic or glass containers. Attach immediately the appropriate label indicating name of the site, sample serial number, date and name of collector.
Important: Do not use paper or cloth to pack the samples. Do not attach paper labels to organic samples. Do not insert paper labels to the bottles containing organic samples.
Waters samples should be taken to new, clean plastic containers. The containers should be filled to the full.
Remember that botanical or zoological identification of the sample will not be possible after treatment in the radiocarbon laboratory.
Send the sample to the radiocarbon dating laboratory as originally packed and enclose complete information requested by the laboratory using appropriate laboratory description form.