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A Response to Long's Radiocarbon Determinations That Attempt to Put Acceptable Chronology on the Fritz

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Richard S. MacNeish
Richard S. MacNeish*
Affiliation:
Andover Foundation for Archaeological Research, PO Box 83, Andover, MA 01810-0002
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Abstract

Long and Fritz argue that AMS dates on early maize were rejected because MacNeish suspected they were contaminated with bedacryl. In fact a letter from MacNeish to Long in 1988 addressed several possible explanations for the problems with the dates. The dates were rejected because they were inconsistent with well-established stratigraphic sequences and associated artifacts and ecofacts. The evidence is briefly summarized here, and the inconsistencies in the Arizona dates pointed out. It appears that the problem lies less with possible contamination with bedacryl, and more with the treatment of the samples by the Arizona laboratory.

Resumen

Resumen

Long y Fritz mantienen que rechazamos las fechas radiocarbónicas AMS obtenidas del maíz antiguo porque sospechamos que habían sido contaminadas con Bedacryl. En realidad, una comunicación mía a Long en 1988 expuso varias explicaciones para las fechas problemáticas. Las fechas fueron rechazadas porque no concuerdan con las secuencias estratigráficas reconocidas y los artefactos y ecofactos asociados. Presentamos un breve resúmen de la evidencia aquí, y señalamos las inconsecuencias de las fechas recientes. Es aparente que estas fechas problemáticas tienen menos que ver con su posible contaminación con Bedacryl y más que ver con su procesamiento en el laboratorio de Arizona.

Type
Comments
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 2001 , pp. 99 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2001

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References

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