C-14 dating and the disappearance of Norsemen from Greenland

Abstract

Direct counting of 14C atoms by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), introduced in 1977, allows radiocarbon (14C) dating of samples of less than 0.1 mg carbon10.000 times smaller than required for traditional 14C- dating based on beta-decay counting 1,2. The AMS 14C Dating Laboratory in Aarhus participates in a study of the Norse (Viking) culture in Greenland with special emphasis on the time development of human diet quantified via 14C dating and measurements of stable-isotope composition of bone collagen. This example of applied physics is described in the following.