I am reading a book called Anglo-Saxon Deviant Burial Customs by Andrew Reynolds (Oxford UP, 2009). I came across a statement that I found puzzling. Reynolds says, "C14 dating in the Anglo-Saxon period is fraught with problems. The fifth and sixth centuries do not provide accurate dates, nor do the eighth and ninth centuries, but opportunities for accurate dating are provided during the seventh and tenth centuries" (p. 126). He cites as his source a personal communication from Alex Bayliss.
So, my question is, why would it be particularly difficult to narrowly and accurately date material from certain time periods or geographical locations? My understanding is that (very broadly) Carbon 14 decays at a predictable and known rate. I've never seen anything that suggests it goes a bit wonky in the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth centuries. I did Google around a bit. I found some articles, including some co-written by Bayliss, that discuss ways of narrowing the dating using grave goods and Bayesian statistics, but that doesn't really help me. I did see a couple of references to possible dietary effects on the radiocarbon dating of bones (and although Reynold's statement doesn't mention bones, his entire book is about human burials).
I should point out that I am a complete idiot, so if you could explain radiocarbon dating in a way that an English major or an unusually slow two year old could understand, I'd really appreciate it.
So, my question is, why would it be particularly difficult to narrowly and accurately date material from certain time periods or geographical locations? My understanding is that (very broadly) Carbon 14 decays at a predictable and known rate. I've never seen anything that suggests it goes a bit wonky in the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth centuries. I did Google around a bit. I found some articles, including some co-written by Bayliss, that discuss ways of narrowing the dating using grave goods and Bayesian statistics, but that doesn't really help me. I did see a couple of references to possible dietary effects on the radiocarbon dating of bones (and although Reynold's statement doesn't mention bones, his entire book is about human burials).
I should point out that I am a complete idiot, so if you could explain radiocarbon dating in a way that an English major or an unusually slow two year old could understand, I'd really appreciate it.
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