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RADIOCARBON DATABASES ONLINE John W. Hoopes John W. Hoopes is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology
at the University of Kansas.
Detailed information about specific radiocarbon measurements is essential for one of the fundamental concerns of archaeology—chronological control. There is always a great deal of understanding to be gained from the critical evaluation of any existing date in light of new information. Many of us have regarded as essential the ability to check date lists for details of lab techniques, pretreatment procedures, sample materials, and other information not always provided when a particular date was published or cited in a scholarly article. Some of this information is indispensable for the application of new calibration techniques, which are essential for chronological accuracy. In 1995, editor Austin Long announced in Radiocarbon the debut of a new online journal, Radiocarbon Date Lists (RDL), established for the purpose of publishing the lists of radiocarbon dates submitted by laboratories that was a central for the journal’s initial publication. RDL had an ISSN and was planned as a peer-reviewed publication. However, by 1997 the new “online journal” had been scrapped, partly due to lack of subscription support and partly due to the dearth of submissions (Long 1995). This was not for a lack of material or even a lack of interest in the use of radiocarbon databases. The number of radiocarbon dates, especially those from AMS labs, have increased dramatically in the past five years. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis has also opened a wide range of possibilities for the use of geographically coded radiocarbon data. What models does the Web offer some specific solutions for open access to growing, interactive radiocarbon date lists and databases? The idea of a centrally organized, digital database of radiocarbon dates was the brainchild of Renee Kra (1988). Unfortunately, the project was shelved for lack of funding as well as logistical problems. David Sewell, a former assistant editor at Radiocarbon who created the initial format for Radiocarbon Date Lists, notes, “If only the computer age had begun a couple of decades earlier, there would probably be a nearly complete Internet database of radiocarbon dates in a standard format. Unfortunately, by the time Renee Kra and others began to seek staff and funding to do such a thing (mid 1980s), there were thousands of records in obsolete media (punch cards, tape, etc.) and in many different formats, and the subsequent exponential growth of date production with AMS dating made it seem less possible or even desirable to record every single 14C date in a single database.” Is there a Web solution to this problem? Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database One inspiring example of a successful online radiocarbon database is the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (CARD) www.canadianarchaeology.ca/radiocarbon/card/card.htm, a “live” database of radiocarbon dates from Canada that has been compiled by Richard Morlan of the Canadian Museum of Civilization. It is available on the Web courtesy of the Canadian Archaeological Association www.canadianarchaeology.ca/ . CARD was born as a result of Morlan’s participation in an initial workshop convened by Renee Kra for planning the International Radiocarbon Database. It is a bilingual (English/French) compilation of radiocarbon measurements for archaeological and vertebrate palaeontological sites. At present, there are over 7,000 radiocarbon dates from Canada. Morlan notes that “These dates represent a substantial financial investment, but their potential for developing the chronology of archaeology and palaeontology remains under-utilized and in some respects mis-used. The dates are widely scattered in published and unpublished sources, and many have not been reported at all. Furthermore, the dates are not all created equal, as they represent the results of analytical methods and techniques that have evolved over a 50-year period.” A search form permits searches based on site name, lab number, or ranges of dates. Individual data sheets are available for each date, with comments on the material dates, its provenience, and its associations. Data can be searched by Borden block (a designation, reflecting latitude and longitude in blocks of 10–20 minutes), Borden number, site name, province, National Topographic System (NTS) map sheet number, laboratory number, material dated, and cultural affiliation. Searches can also be conducted for a range of dates or any combination of the above-mentioned fields. The location search field includes county names, major drainages, and the islands of the Arctic Archipelago. Associated taxa field contains the scientific names of mammals associated with the dates. Clicking on a “Search” button retrieves the data, which is presented as a table listing province or territory, Borden number, site name, laboratory number, and normalized age. Hyperlinks to any entry produces the full record for a given entry. Easy navigation buttons make the interface quick and easy to use, and any page can be printed. Naturally, a principal advantage of the online format is that it is constantly correctable and updateable. Morlan’s email address appears at the bottom of each screen, and users are encouraged to send corrections, comments, and additions by email. One of the principal uses of the CARD database is the Mapping Ancient History project sts.gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/tsdweb/geoserv_mah.asp, based at the Geological Survey of Canada www.geoserv.org .Mapping Ancient History is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) presentation that creates maps of dated sites depicting the deglaciation and landscape evolution of North America across the past 18 millennia. A Web interface permits one to view maps of site distribution in Canada in 1,000-year increments from 18,000–1000 B.P. (Some of these maps appeared in the March/February 2000 issue of Discovering Archaeology, online at www.discoveringarchaeology.com/.) Morlan is planning to update CARD with data from Alaska by the end of the year. He writes, “I have been working on extending the coverage southward well into the United States. The international border has certain influences on our disciplines, but it is irrelevant to our questions about ancient history. Hopefully we can compile a continental database in the long run. I will welcome data and comments from anyone who is interested in this project.” His email address is Richard.Morlan@civilisations.ca. Other Online Examples Having scanned the Web with various search engines, I have identified only a few other examples of active online radiocarbon databases. ANDES: Radiocarbon Database for Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, has been assembled by Mariusz S. Ziólkowski, Mieczyslaw F. Pazdur, Andrzej Krzanowski, and Adam Michczynski of the Archaeological Institute, Warsaw University www.archeo.uw.edu.pl/. Some 2,800 dates are presented as uncalibrated results. They can be viewed online in three different tabular forms: (1) by uncorrected age B.P., (2) by country (Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru), and (3) by laboratory. Each table provides site name, date B.P. with error range, and laboratory reference number. In the U.K., the Archaeology Data Service, University of York (ADS) ads.ahds.ac.uk/ahds/ is home to two large radiocarbon databases: the Council for British Archaeology (CBA)’s Archaeological Site Index to Radiocarbon Dates from Great Britain and Ireland and a database of radiocarbon dates from an Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) www.ahrb.ac.uk funded study, “Spatial and Chronological Patterns in the Neolithisation of Europe” (see below). The former is based on a large data set initially compiled by Cherry Lavell for CBA and subsequently augmented to (as of late November 2000) some 6,382 records. It is comprehensive until 1982, with some later additions in 1991. Although it is missing the large number of “conventional” and AMS dates that have been obtained during the last decade, it is currently the prime publicly available reference source on radiocarbon dates for British and Irish sites. It can be queried using a total of 11 different fields. Access to both of these databases is available via the ArchSearch interface ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/, the online catalogue of the ADS (follow the links “Special Collections” and “Dating”). The New Zealand Radiocarbon Database www.waikato.ac.nz/nzcd/, assembled by Tom Higham and Bruce McFadgen, of the Department of Conservation, University of Waikato, and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd. of New Zealand, is another example of a useful national resource. It contains radiocarbon determinations and associated information for almost 3,000 dates obtained by seven laboratories from archaeological sites in New Zealand over the past 40 years. It permits form-based searches using fields of lab number, material dated, site name, site number, and conservancy. Two modest examples of U.S. state-level databases are those for Delaware www.udel.edu/dgs/radcarbtab.html and Tennessee. The Delaware Radiocarbon Database, compiled by Kelvin Ramsey for the Delaware Geological Survey, presents a table of 267 dates. The Tennessee Radiocarbon Date Online Database www.mtsu.edu/~kesmith/TNARCHNET/TNC14.html, which remains in the development stages, is designed to provide a centralized database of resource information on radiocarbon dates from sites in Tennessee. It currently includes approximately 800 dates but is not yet fully accessible. Obviously, there is a great deal that remains to be done in the development of these types of resources. Specific Research Projects Two current research projects that are likely to result in significant, publicly accessible radiocarbon databases merit special mention: Spatial and Chronological Patterns in the Neolithisation of Europe is the result of a major study to evaluate the “neolithic” population expansion across Europe after 7000 B.C. under the direction of Stephen Shennan and James Steele. The aim of this project has been to compile a digital database of radiocarbon dates for the later Mesolithic and early Neolithic of Europe (ca. 9000–5000 B.P.), a time frame covering the range from the later Mesolithic in southeast Europe to the earlier Neolithic in northern and northwest Europe. It includes information about date contexts, the material dated, and economic and cultural associations. The information is now being analyzed using GIS techniques. The database is available to online users via an ArchSearch interface ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/. It can be queried online using a total of 22 different information fields, which include data on material dated and associations with specific floral, faunal, and human remains. Absolute Chronology for Early Civilisations in Austria and Central Europe using 14C Dating with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry www.nhm-wien.ac.at/NHM/Prehist/Stadler/14C_Project/ is a project that has generated the world’s largest radiocarbon database. It currently contains documentation of about 30,000 radiocarbon dates pertaining to some 500 different cultures. Although it is not yet online, this project is intended to have an interactive component, which would allow for other researchers to contribute missing data and utilize portions of the database. Future Directions In his 1997 editorial reporting the discontinuation of Radiocarbon Date Lists, Austin Long expressed his opinion that “establishing a comprehensive, single-site 14C database is not feasible.” One possible solution he suggests is to provide Web site lists for individual laboratories that previously provided online, searchable 14C databases “whose directors wish to make available details of their techniques and personnel.” However, to date only a few commercial laboratories have taken the initiative to do this, and none appear to be publishing the kind of information that routinely accompanied Radiocarbon-style date lists in the past. Even fewer have taken the initiative to publish their date lists online. [One exception is the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit users.ox.ac.uk/ %7Eorau/dl_index.html which simply reprints data from date lists published in Archaeometry (1985–2000, Vols. 26–42) indexed by site and date number.] Given the rapidly growing corpus of both “conventional” and AMS dates, it is imperative that digital resources be developed to fill the void left by the regular publication of date lists. Although Radiocarbon resumed publication of a handful of date lists in 1997, these are not representative of the volume of data that is currently being generated. Date lists, in whatever format, are essential for the responsible, critical, scientific evaluation of some of the foundations of ongoing archaeological inferences about chronology. The Web now offers us a number of new options for accessing this data. Let us hope that radiocarbon laboratories, funding agencies, and creative archaeological professionals will realize how important it has become to devote energy and resources to new solutions for accessing the burgeoning basis for proving the antiquity of the past. Author’s Note: The journal Radiocarbon www.radiocarbon.org has begun online publication this year, with the first two numbers of Volume 42 (2000) available to subscribers via www.CatchWord.com. For those who don’t follow this journal on a regular basis, Vol. 42(1) is a special issue dedicated to editor emeritus Renee Kra and includes a special section of review articles on radiocarbon dating in archaeology by Austin Long, R. E. Taylor, Ofer Bar-Yosef, and others. A recommended Web site on general radiocarbon dating is Radiocarbon Web-Info www.c14dating.com/, assembled by Tom Higham of the Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Waikato, New Zealand. References Cited Kra, R.
Long, A.
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