Synchronising radiocarbon dating and the Egyptian historical chronology by improved sample selection

14C dates represent the age of the organics found in association with the pottery, and hence depend on the material history of the former and not the latter.

“they represent the age of the organics found in association with the pottery, and hence depend on the material history of the former and not the latter (see Dee et al. 2012, for examples of inappropriate sample materials).”

Materials with minimal inbuilt age and excellent certainty of association were prioritised.

“we prioritised materials that exhibited minimal inbuilt age and excellent certainty of association (see Waterbolk 1971; Dee et al. 2012).”

The alluvial Nile soil may contain older inherited plant remains and organic compounds, which could result in radiocarbon dates older than the actual time of mudbrick production.

“However, the alluvial Nile soil may also contain older inherited plant remains and organic compounds, transported by the Nile or from past human activities in the soil, which could result in radiocarbon dates older than the actual time of mudbrick production [70,97].”

More often the 14C dating results of organic material in mudbricks and mud seals were found to be older by many decades and even centuries than historical age assessments.

“However, more often the 14C dating results of organic material in mudbricks and mud seals were found to be older by many decades and even centuries than historical age assessments [70,71,97].”

Radiocarbon dating of mudbricks, based on embedded straw fragments added during the time of mudbrick fabrication, has given reliable results.

“Radiocarbon dating of mudbricks, based on embedded straw fragments, added during the time of mudbrick fabrication, has given reliable results [97].”

The 5 radiocarbon dating results of the Ahmose mudbrick underline findings from other investigations that mud from alluvial Nile soil usually contains plant and organic components of different ages that are older than the "fresh" plant fragments added as straw at the time of mudbrick fabrication.

“The 5 radiocarbon dating results of the Ahmose mudbrick (Table 4) underline findings from other investigations [70,97] that mud from alluvial Nile soil usually contains plant and organic components of different ages that are older than the “fresh” plant fragments added as straw at the time of mudbrick fabrication.”

Problems remain in radiocarbon sample selection, ad hoc application of dates to archaeological features, and lack of acknowledgment that multiple dates for single contexts are needed to construct chronological frameworks.

“but problems remain in sample selection (Dee et al. 2012), the ad hoc application of dates to archaeological features, and the lack of acknowledgment that multiple dates for single contexts are needed in order to construct chronological frameworks (Levine and Stanish 2014).”

Early radiocarbon studies of ancient Egypt produced results that diverged from historical expectations by hundreds of years due to inbuilt age, insufficient contaminant removal, or ambiguity in archaeological attributions.

“However, some of these early studies produced results which diverged from historical expectations by hundreds of years. These offsets were caused by a variety of reasons, such as differences between the inherent and historical age of specific items (so-called inbuilt age), insufficient removal of contaminants, or ambiguity in the archaeological attributions [42].”