Without being an intituition haws it done? :)

[handaxe]

Radiocarbon dating a pottery shard...

I tried and got rejected. Any insight would be much appreciated


Thanks

 

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[IlliniGuy]

Pottery cannot be carbon dated. Only organic matter can be carbon dated.

 

[handaxe]

Pottery cannot be carbon dated. Only organic matter can be carbon dated.

The burnt black crust is what I'm most interested in. Thanks

 

[rock]

I have found many types of pottery. Believe it or not the burnt black crust might of been made that way on purpose. I find some shards that are black and it wasnt on accident. Interesting question though.

 

[GatorBoy]

The burnt black crust is what I'm most interested in. Thanks

The crust would have formed from the surrounding soil..and all the date would show is how long ago the decayed biological matter in the soil died.
There would be so many different pieces that getting one date would be impossible.
If the item was found in an undisturbed stratified site testing the surrounding soil can give an idea of the age of decayed leaf litter and pollen spores to determine how long ago that level was the surface ground.

 

[ivan salis]

some pots are dark from fire from cooking --others in the south are from being used in the "black drink" purge drink made yearly===== once used for the black drink the pots are busted and fresh ones made.

 

[GatorBoy]

Mostly shell dippers used for the actual drinking of black drink down this way..I suppose a pottery vessel used in cooking it would be stained but as porous as pottery is there would be no way of telling if it wasn't naturally stained from other types of leaves and other things in the soil without chemical testing.
Some of the pottery down here had the inside coated with tar collected from the beach for holding liquids... some actually used the tar for decorating the pottery purposely adding it to create a black on tan contrast.... some is even black and almost white by adding crushed limestone to the paste.
I will post a few examples this evening.
If that's OK

 

[handaxe]

Here is a piece I was describing

 

[GatorBoy]

It looks pretty normal to me.
Did you find it in a wet or muddy area?

 

[handaxe]

It looks pretty normal to me.
Did you find it in a wet or muddy area?

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=831075"/>

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=831076"/>

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=831072"/>

Yeah it looks normal although I would still like to get it dated and it seems like there is no clear path to get this done. Just want to get this piece dated if this is at all possible. I found the dalton next to it after a road with a 3% grade has been washed out. There is not much red clay in the lower part of sc and this is where it was found. Man it's been raining hard for months now telling the story of our land. Just trying to find out who a good contact is for this service I'd like to hire..

 

[handaxe]

Nice pieces gator. Is the one with the pattern made with fiber you suppose?

 

[GatorBoy]

Yeah it looks normal although I would still like to get it dated and it seems like there is no clear path to get this done. Just want to get this piece dated if this is at all possible. I found the dalton next to it after a road with a 3% grade has been washed out. There is not much red clay in the lower part of sc and this is where it was found. Man it's been raining hard for months now telling the story of our land. Just trying to find out who a good contact is for this service I'd like to hire..

They key to dating that piece is through the temper material and a knowlage of the area.
Pottery was not in North America when that Dalton point was made.
The piece with the stamp pattern was done with a carved wooden paddle.
Cord marked pieces have the line pressed inward from the cord.

 

[newnan man]

You could carbon date shell, right? Pottery is dated by context, style, etc. A chunk like that will be tough to come up with anything.

 

[GatorBoy]

Yeah..sure.
It will tell you approximately when the animal died.
After death carbon-14 builds up at a measurable and steady rate.. so its just mathematics from there.

 

[bci101tractors]

It's actually quite interesting how careful handling of pottery can be done with hopes of recovering uncontaminated carbon residue for radiocarbon dating certain pieces. Sometimes blood residues from stone tools can identify the animal being butchered and some stone tools can hold info. on which plants were being processed. The data recovering process is not within my playing field here for sure.
A lot of things have changed recently, always be on the safe side and look to the future when washing/handling artifacts. Not sure why you got rejected, but it's not cheap and many have very limited resources, unfortunatly.
Thanks for posting,
BCI

 

[GatorBoy]

Nice pieces gator. Is the one with the pattern made with fiber you suppose?

Thank you

 

[Tnmountains]

They are right since there is no decay in the burnt area on the pot it would be impossible to date. All my pots have fire burn from firing or use. Rock is right in that they turn black when made.
Pretty interesting that a Dalton would or could be associated with the pottery though.
Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[rock]

There should be a pottery site for you state to get the ID you are looking for. I have one bookmarked for pottery but I dont know how to transfer it here sorry. You dont have to carbon date it use the decoration side of the shard to do the ID on it. In my area I think plain or cord it the oldest. You just have to match it to the ones posted for your state.