Stratified 14C Dates and Ceramic Chronologies: Case Studies for the Early Bronze Age at Troy (Turkey) and Ezero (Bulgaria)

Abstract

Prehistoric tell stratigraphies, like deep-sea sediments or peat deposits, store information about past atmospheric 14C variations. By matching the 14C ages on charcoal samples from settlement deposits with the tree-ring calibration curve, estimates for the time span covered by successive stratigraphic phases can be derived. This method is applied to 14C data from the tell mounds at Troy, Turkey and Ezero, Bulgaria. I compare the derived chronologies with the results of pottery shape seriation using correspondence analysis.