Radiocarbon dating and Icelandic archaeology

Abstract

This article deals with the application of radiocarbon dating in Icelandic archaeology. Results of some of the ¹⁴C datings do not match the conventional date for the settlement of Iceland. An attempt has been made to explain this discrepancy by a reservoir effect-hypothesis which has neither been sufficiently tested nor proven. Most of the irregular dates derive notably from a single laboratory. A number of alternative explanations for the discrepancy are given in this study, among them the fact that some radiocarbon laboratories do not ask for, or execute, a detailed wood-analysis prior to dating.