Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland

Council for British Archaeology, 2000 (updated 2008)

Data copyright © Council for British Archaeology, English Heritage unless otherwise stated


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Resource identifiers

  • ADS Collection: 4

Introduction

This resource consists of a database of almost 10,000 radiocarbon dates for Great Britain and Ireland, comprehensive until 1982, with some later additions in 1991 and further updated in 2001. It was compiled by Cherry Lavell for the CBA.

In 2007, 477 radiocarbon dates were added by the Scientific Dating Team at English Heritage. The dates come from samples funded by English Heritage under the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund 2002-04.

In 2008, 647 radiocarbon dates were added by the Scientific Dating Team at English Heritage. The dates come from samples funded by English Heritage under the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund 2004-7.

The fields included in the current database comprise:

  • Sample Id (always specified in format: "Radiocarbon date, Sample number XXX-xxxx")
  • Minimum and Maximum Dates (the date range given by one standard deviation)
  • Date (the radiocarbon data for the sample quoted according to the "Libby" half-life for carbon-14, that is, 5568 +/- 30 years, plus error term equivalent to plus or minus one standard deviation)
  • Lab Name (the name of the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory which supplied the date)
  • Source (either the CBA Index, the ORAU database, or Cherry Lavell (CL))
  • Archaeologist (the name(s) of the archaeologist(s) who submitted the sample for dating)
  • OS Grid letter, Easting and Northing (given in standard Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference format, when known)
  • Abstract and Report (these fields make up description of the sample and the site it came from)
  • Type (using the subject classification devised by Cherry Lavell for British Archaeological Abstracts)
  • Period (text description using the usual periods)
  • References (bibliographic references associated with the publication of the date)