Radiocarbon Dating of Plants and Seeds Updates Accepted Egyptian Timeline
Originally, the technique known as radiocarbon dating was developed in 1949 by Willard Libby at the University of Chicago based on an idea of physicist Enrico Fermi. Libby first introduced the world to his technique by correctly dating the age of some wood from an ancient Egyptian royal barge, for which the actual age was already known from ancient literature. The science behind the technique has improved in the last 60 years until now quite precise dating can be assured. Teams of specialist academic radiocarbon experts have been re-examining a number of artefacts throughout the world.
Applying the newest techniques of radiocarbon dating of over 200 plants and seeds from museum collections around the world has recently changed the known chronology of ancient Egypt, according to a new international study reported in the 18 June 2010 issue of Science. The samples for carbon dating were made available from plant and seed debris found in baskets, textiles, plant stems, fruit and burial materials. Each sample was able to be associated, by the experts, with the reign of a particular Pharaoh or specific historical era. The team from Oxford, led by Professor Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Deputy Director of the Research Laboratory, Director of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and Professor of Archaeological Science, resolved some questionable dates and confirmed others that were roughly accurate estimates. It is a very exciting time for Egyptologists, as the old, controversial dates are either finally confirmed or reassigned more accurately in regards to the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.
For instance, the dates accepted previously for the Old Kingdom are now shown to be wrong, as the Old Kingdom is actually much older that scholars had estimated from archaeological and written inferences, as well as plausible linkages to the astronomical calendar. One of the most well known pharaohs of the Third Dynasty is Djoser, who was thought to have commissioned the first of the pyramids; but with the newly discovered information, he is found to have ruled up to 100 years earlier than the experts had thought. The team also shows that the New Kingdom may have started earlier than previously believed.
Textbooks may need to be revised to accommodate all the information being discovered. Academics say that the ramifications throughout the region are great, as Egyptian chronology is the landmark, or anchor, with which all others compare and define themselves. This study resets the time-line in a way that will also be felt throughout all the disciplines dealing with the eastern Mediterranean region during the Bronze and Iron Ages (the third to first millennia BCE).
Until now, the various chronologies for the Egyptian dynasties were expert interpretations based on reign lengths referred to in abundant fragments of written evidence. Congratulations to the team from the University of Oxford for identifying such important updates to Egypt’s time-line with their radiocarbon accelerator technology!