Abstract
We comment on a paper in this volume by Kouznetsov et al. (1), who report that the 14C age of the textile, which was originally dated as about 2,195±55 yr BP was changed by 1,400 yr to about 800 yr BP, by heating in air containing small amounts of water. These authors also make several claims about the reliability of radiocarbon dating of cellulose and cellulose-containing textiles. They include statements that 14C is not distributed uniformly in flax, and an untested claim that isotopic fractionation of 14C relative to 13C and 12C occurs in some way different from that accounted for by the usual equations employed by radiocarbon laboratories. They use their results to question the validity of all radiocarbon measurements, and specifically to criticize the radiocarbon results on the Shroud of Turin (2).
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 248-253 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | ACS Symposium Series |
Volume | 625 |
State | Published - Dec 1 1996 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Chemistry(all)
- Chemical Engineering(all)