ITHACA, NEW YORK—According to a statement released by Public Library of Science, researchers have applied updated radiocarbon calibration techniques to revise the dating of the wreck of the Kyrenia, an ancient ship that was discovered and excavated off the coast of Cyprus in the late 1960s. Based on coins and ceramics recovered from the wreck, researchers had dated the ship to the late fourth or early third century b.c., which did not align with the radiocarbon dates from decades ago. Tree-ring dating is crucial in obtaining accurate radiocarbon dates because it helps correct errors caused by variations over time in atmospheric carbon. Even as radiocarbon dating methods have improved, calibration curves for some periods in the Northern Hemisphere have not been revised. Using new tree-ring samples, a team led by archaeologist Sturt Manning of Cornell University updated the calibration data for the period between 433 and 250 b.c. Then the researchers applied this calibration to new radiocarbon dates taken from remains of the Kyrenia ship and its latest dated cargo. These new dates suggest that the ship took its final voyage around 280 b.c., at least a decade later than previous dating had indicated. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. For more, go to "History's 10 Greatest Wrecks...Kyrenia."
New Dates for Ancient Kyrenia Shipwreck
News July 2, 2024
SHARE:
Recommended Articles
(Jonathan Blair/National Geographic Stock)
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2024
Nineteenth-Century Booze Cruise
Tomasz Stachura/Baltictech
Digs & Discoveries September/October 2024
Shackleton's Last Try
Tore Topp/Royal Canadian Geographical Society
Digs & Discoveries September/October 2023
Sunken Cargo
(Israel Antiquities Authority )
-
Features July/August 2024
The Assyrian Renaissance
Archaeologists return to Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the ancient world’s grandest imperial capitals
(Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project) -
Letter from Nigeria July/August 2024
A West African Kingdom's Roots
Excavations in Benin City reveal a renowned realm’s deep history
(Mike Pitts) -
Artifacts July/August 2024
Etruscan Oil Lamp
(Courtesy Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona; © DeA Picture Library/Art Resource, NY) -
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Bronze Age Beads Go Abroad
(Courtesy Cambridge Archaeological Unit)