Development of the radiocarbon dating and its application in egyptology

Abstract

Introduction: The radiocarbon dating method is currently generally accepted for dating in archaeology. However, despite the significant improvement in its accuracy in recent decades, it is still widely believed that it cannot be useful in clarifying the dates of the Egyptian chronology, which is known to us in detail. The purpose of the study is to consider the main stages of the development of the radiocarbon dating and the influence that Egyptian chronology had on it, as well as the consequences that this influence caused. Research methods: analytical-synthetic, logical and comparative. Scientific novelty: the complexity of the consideration of the process of the formation of the radiocarbon method and the mutual influence of this dating method and Egyptian chronology and, on its basis, the validity of the conclusion about the prospects for the application of this dating method. Main results: The radiocarbon dating from the moment of its inception to the beginning of the 21st century has gone through a long and difficult path of development and improvement on the basis of «known» data, which were mainly dates from Dynastic Egypt. The dependence of the method on Egyptian dates contributed to the formation of a negative attitude of Egyptologists and archaeologists to the possibilities of this dating technique. With the advent of the new millennium, when a resolution of one decade was achieved through the use of high-precision calibration curves, the introduction of regional corrections, the use of Bayesian modeling and improvements in the procedure for selecting and analyzing samples, the dates of some periods of Dynastic Egypt could be independently verified. Two large-scale radiocarbon dating projects of monuments of Egypt and the Near East region – the project of dating the Old Kingdom pyramids, initiated by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) and the project «The Synchronization of Civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium BC» (SCIEM 2000), carried out at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have revealed discrepancies between the results and the historically expected dates, the reasons for which in both cases are still not identified. Conclusions: A comprehensive study of the reasons for the two large-scale discrepancies in the ages of samples from the Middle and Old Kingdoms may both improve the accuracy of the radiocarbon dating and lead to a revision of the Egyptian historical chronology. The significant increase in the accuracy of the radiocarbon dating achieved to date is gradually changing the attitude of Egyptologists towards it and allows it to be used for independent verification of the «known» dates of the Egyptian chronology.