The direct absorption method of 14C assay—historical perspective and future potential

Radiocarbon dating by liquid scintillation counting of 14CO2 absorbed into an alkaline liquid was first developed for groundwater research. In the 1980s it was applied to molluscs, barnacles, corals and other carbonates, and yielded dependable results within a few hours, with standard errors of ∼10% for ages <14 000 yr, at about 1/200 the price of commercial 14C dates. Although its cost has risen fivefold, the first-order approach remains useful in coastal neotectonics, where numerous low-precision determinations are often more useful than a few high-precision dates. Direct absorption (DA) 14C dating has now been improved and extended to include wood and charcoal samples, and provides ages in a variety of environments with standard errors similar to those reported by conventional radiometric laboratories and for ages spanning the last 30 000 years. The unit cost for a ‘state of the art’ DA determination is close to 50% of that by benzene synthesis, but the method is favoured in many hydrological and archaeological applications because it is robust and rapid.