Royal shin bones and negative ions
Up-to-date C14 dating at ATOMKI in Debrecen
MúzeumCafé 27.
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Nuclear Research (ATOMKI) based in Debrecen recently acquired a new AMS measuring instrument from Zurich. MúzeumCafé spoke with ATOMKI physicist Mihály Molnár and Mihály Veres, managing director of Izotoptech – Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies, about the new apparatus and what it could contribute to Hungary’s archaeology in terms of dating technology. Measuring Instrument for Radiocarbon Dating, written by Ede Hertelendi, was first published in 1982. Soon after the method began to spread around the world Professor Éva Csongor with her husband, founded the institute. In 1992 the first joint publication involving archaeologists appeared. It was written by Ferenc Horváth, an archaeologist at Szeged. Before the arrival of the AMS, the quantity of the sample was very important. Now there is almost no precise quantity required. It’s basically thanks to the AMS that the quantity needed for analysis has changed. Previously, one week and one gram of carbon was required for archaeological measurement – all that is needed today is one milligram, or even just one tenth of that, plus one hour. The instrument is partly owned by the Academy, for whose researchers the results are the most important, but apart from this Izotoptech is certainly no ‘vulture capitalist’. Thus if there is any project of archaeological interest to Hungary it can get involved jointly with the Academy. The average cost of one measurement is 330 euros. Due to the collagen maybe it’s a bit more than that, given that the procedure is very complicated. It is significant that there are only 20-30 AMS instruments in the whole world and the one in Deb-recen is the only one in eastern Europe. Furthermore, it can be said that it is one of the best such instruments in the world.