Quality assessment of 14C dates

Abstract

For at least 25 years concern has been expressed at the 14C conferences that the ¹⁴C measurements are often less reliable than would be expected from the statistical uncertainties given together with the dates. With well collected, stored and pretreated samples it should have been possible satisfactorily to measure a background sample and the common international standard sample or possibly a secondary standard sample, related to the international standard. This came into use after the ¹⁴C conference 1959 in Groningen. International comparisons of samples distributed before the New Zealand conference in 1972 and thereafter have revealed
discrepancies, which should not occur.