c14bazAAR: An R package for downloading and preparing C14 dates from different source databases

Abstract

Radiocarbon dating is one of the most important methods for absolute and relative chronological reconstruction of cultural development in prehistoric archaeology (Taylor & Bar-Yosef, 2016). This is true for the intrasite level, for regional comparisons and also in cases, where processes that have a large spatial and temporal reach are to be investigated. Prominent examples for the latter include the ‘neolithization’ of Europe or the ‘Bantu expansion’ in subSaharan Africa. They have been extensively analysed with radiocarbon data (e.g. Ammerman & Cavalli-Sforza (1971), Garcin et al. (2018), Jerardino, Fort, Isern, & Rondelli (2014), Lemmen, Gronenborn, & Wirtz (2011), Oslisly et al. (2013), Pinhasi, Fort, & Ammerman (2005), Russell, Silva, & Steele (2014), Weninger et al. (2009)).