Important features of the new radiocarbon calibration curves

Calibration from the radiocarbon to the calendar scale is essential for developing chronologies in palaeoenvironmental or archaeological studies. We report here on the new internationally agreed radiocarbon calibration curves, which replace the 1998 curves. We discuss some of the important features of the curves and illustrate how modern Bayesian statistical methods and groups of related radiocarbon determinations can considerably improve chronological resolution.