USAGE AND SEARCH TIPS
| General: |
There are three layouts:
- The Main layout, with all of the data for each record in the database;
- The List layout, which organizes the primary data (using the calibration supplied by the laboratory); and
- The Calib. 4.3 layout, in which a number of dates have been recalibrated using Calib. 4.3 and alternate Delta-R or more recent calibration datasets.
You will start at the Main layout. From there you can search within any field or combination of fields by using the "Find" button. Select "Find", type your request in the proper field(s), then select the "Perform Find" button in the left column (remember to add leading "0s" where necessary). By using the symbols (see the "symbols list" in the left column, which appears when you select "Find"), you can create more powerful searches.
Then, you can extend or constrain the resulting dataset using additional searches with the buttons below "Perform Find." For example, a "Find" for MNT in the Site Number field will return a dataset of over 860 records; a second "Find" followed by typing "SCR-" in the Site Number field and then selecting "Extend Found Set" will add those records to the found set. (Note the use of "SCR-", which will eliminate the SCRI records that a search for SCR would have found.) Records can be deleted from a found set in the same manner.
The search is not case sensitive, nor is it a "whole word" search. "For example, "Mytil" will return the same results as "mytilus" in the Material field.
Following a search you can access the results one date at a time in the Main layout by using the "First," "Last," "Next," and "Previous" buttons.
You can also use two additional layouts, each of which summarizes the data in tabular form. The first List, presents the basic data with the laboratory calibration. The second, Calib. 4.3, presents the same data with a recalibration using Calib. 4.3 and, in many cases, a newer dataset or an alternate Delta-R. You can navigate through these using the same "First," "Last," "Next," and "Previous" buttons, or can jump 25 records at a time using the little "book" in the left column.
Unfortunately, most of the dates in this database have not been recalibrated. We are lucky to get the basic data, and certainly don't have time to recalibrate 6,000 dates. So, the dates we are most interested in are the ones most likely to have been recalibrated.
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| Sorting: | The database can be sorted from the Main layout or the other two layouts. The "Sort" button, unfortunately, is subtle--it is located near the top of the left column, and it appears as the letter A above the letter Z. Once you select that button, a sort menu appears which will provide lots of options.
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| Site number: | This field is for trinomials only.
To locate a specific site: for all counties except San Diego use leading 0s to make a 4-digit number (SCR-0009); San Diego County requires a 5-digit number (SDI-10001).
To locate all dates within a specific county, search for the county abbreviation (three characters for counties, four for the islands). In cases where there is possible confusion with an island (SCR vs. SCRI) search for "SCR-" and you will get only Santa Cruz County. (A full list of abbreviations is found on the Counties of California map.)
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| Date: | The dates will generally be measured age. Conventional age will be in a separate field. However, sometimes the "measured age" is something else, such as 12C/13C adjusted, some form of calibrated age, etc. but nobody told us which.
Caution: Many dates are something other than measured age, and we have no idea what. This is because archaeologists frequently fail to specify in which form their dates are reported. Older dates (and some current ones) may be included herein as conventional age, recalibrated age, or some other undisclosed measure. There was, and still is, no standardization in how dates are reported in the literature. We did the best we could.
This field has a leading field "Symbol" for a "<" or ">" in front of the date. A few of the dates entered into this database in the early 1980s did not get a symbol where needed. We'll try to catch up when we can.
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| Lab number: | For most laboratories use the lab prefix plus leading 0s to make a 4-digit number (WSU-0789); for "I=" dates use a 5 digit number (I-09409), and for "Beta-" dates use a 6-digit number (Beta-034567).
When you search for a laboratory number you can use a shortened search (Beta-001 or Beta-) and the resulting data can then be sorted by laboratory number. (However, a search for "Beta" will produce over 2,500 dates.)
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| Material: |
You can search for any variation on the material. For example, "mytilus" or "charcoal" or "bead" will all return useful results. However, some dates are entered as "charred residue" or "charred acorn" or "charred tules" instead of charcoal. Still others specify "ash" or "carbon, ash" or some other variation.
Knowing whether a sample was obtained from one or multiple pieces of material is critical to understanding the reliability of the resulting date. Very few dates include this critical bit of information, but we have added it where available. Most dates obtained on multiple pieces (unless from a good feature, etc.) are probably junk and should be used with extreme caution, if at all.
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE FORMAT |
| Location: | This is a generic location, city or town, cute site name, or other non-trinomial site number. P numbers may not be used. This field is to assist those who are not able to remember several thousand site numbers off the top of their heads.
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| Provenience: | In order to save column space in the original print format, the standard form for provenience (i.e., "Unit 3, 10-20 cm") was abbreviated "3: 10-20 cm." These have not all been changed back.
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| Archaeologist: | Companies come and companies go, especially in Southern California. Who is the archaeologist who actually knows something about the sample?
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| C13/C12: | The actual measurement from the laboratory. Estimates not allowed. If there is a "-" in this field it is known that there was no C13/C12 obtained.
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| Reference: | A reference to a written report, published or unpublished (we are way behind in adding these).
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| Comment: | Anything that may be important to understanding the date. |
ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA RADIOCARBON DATABASE
California Radiocarbon Dates went through several computer printout editions in the early 1980s (on a Radio Shack Model I, no less), followed by eight formal editions between 1982 and 1996. It finally reached the point where the publication became too large and too much work to commit to paper every year or two. Now that we have the internet we are converting everything to that format.
When we first converted to the internet we had over 5,380 dates in our database. With the reformatted database of June 2005 we reached about 6,000 dates, but there are thousands of existing dates which we do not have, and new dates are being generated at an unprecedented rate. A few radiocarbon laboratories are willing to provide us some "fill-in" information, but can't help much due to limited staff and budgets. Private labs, such as Beta Analytic, understandably cannot release their clients' data, though they have offered to help in other ways.
Some archaeological reports, particularly CRM reports, still do not contain details on radiocarbon dates--they are "being processed" when the report is finished and sent to the Information Centers. Others include a few data sheets from radiocarbon laboratories as an appendix, which is good, but provide no details on sample selection, interpretation, etc. in the text. Still others include a "calibrated" date with no details on lab number, C12/C13, measured age, conventional age, any Delta-R which may have been used, etc. And you would be amazed at how many archaeologists are still using a handful of shell fragments for their dating samples; they still believe they are getting usable results! (See Dating 103 for some basic notes on sample selection.)
To make matters worse, the mass of radiocarbon information on file with the Regional Information Centers is not available to us---the Information Centers cannot afford to voluntarily track down all of the dates from thousands of scattered files and reports, and we cannot afford to pay them for this research, or to visit each clearinghouse for several days each year to do it ourselves. We rely on individual archaeologists for the bulk of our information.
In addition to the difficulty in obtaining dates, there is also a problem in obtaining trinomial site numbers to go with the information. This problem is critical in San Diego County where a significant percentage of the dates are not accompanied by real site numbers! And to make things worse, the State of California, in its infinite wisdom, is now trying to foist "P" numbers on us. This database is set up to use trinomials, and will include "P" numbers only as a last resort--and certainly not in the "Site Number" field.
We welcome any help from fellow archaeologists in adding to this database.
The easiest thing to do is to have Beta Analytic send you your dates via email, and then forward those files on to us! Be sure to include some information such as site number, sample selection, etc., as well!
Our email address is:
