Two types of CO2− radicals threaten the fundamentals of ESR dating of tooth enamel

The good news for ESR dating is that any systematic errors introduced by a different mix of orientated and non-orientated CO2− radicals in the natural and irradiation spectra seem relatively small (<5%). At present, the most reliable way for the dose estimation of fragments seems to measure the samples rotating around the three principal axes and to merge the spectra to produce a powder-equivalent spectrum and use this for the construction of the dose response curve.