Search

Considerable work has gone into developing high-precision radiocarbon ( 14 C) chronologies for the southern Levant region during the Late Bronze to Iron Age/early Biblical periods (∼1200-600 BC), but there has been little consideration whether the current standard Northern Hemisphere 14 C calibration curve (IntCal13) is appropriate for this region. We measured 14 C ages of calendar-dated tree rings from AD 1610 to 1940 from southern Jordan to investigate contemporary 14 C levels and to compare these with IntCal13. Our data reveal an average offset of ∼19 14 C years, but, more interestingly, this offset seems to vary in importance through time. While relatively small, such an offset has substantial relevance to high-resolution 14 C chronologies for the southern Levant, both archaeological and paleoenvironmental. For example, reconsidering two published studies, we find differences, on average, of 60% between the 95.4% probability ranges determined from IntCal13 versus those approximately allowing for the observed offset pattern. Such differences affect, and even potentially undermine, several current archaeological and historical positions and controversies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)