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Originally published in Science Express on 6 December 2001
Science 21 December 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5551, pp. 2532 - 2535
DOI: 10.1126/science.1066112
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Reports

Anatolian Tree Rings and a New Chronology for the East Mediterranean Bronze-Iron Ages

Sturt W. Manning,1* Bernd Kromer,2 Peter Ian Kuniholm,3 Maryanne W. Newton3

We report an extensive program of high-precision radiocarbon dating to establish the best date for a floating 1599-year Anatolian tree ring chronology that spans the later third millennium B.C. through the earlier first millennium B.C. This chronology is directly associated with a number of key sites and ancient personages. A previously suggested dating is withdrawn and is replaced by a robust new date fix 22 (+4 or -7) years earlier. These new radiocarbon wiggle-matched dates offer a unique independent resource for establishing the precise chronology of the ancient Near East and Aegean and help resolve, among others, a long-standing debate in favor of the so-called Middle Mesopotamian chronology.

1 Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Post Office Box 218 Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AA, UK.
2 Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Im Neuenheimer Feld 229, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
3 The Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Laboratory for Aegean and Near Eastern Dendrochronology, B-48 Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-3201, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: S.W.Manning{at}reading.ac.uk

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Chronology for the Aegean Late Bronze Age 1700-1400 B.C..
S. W. Manning, C. B. Ramsey, W. Kutschera, T. Higham, B. Kromer, P. Steier, and E. M. Wild (2006)
Science 312, 565-569
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
14C Dates from Tel Rehov: Iron-Age Chronology, Pharaohs, and Hebrew Kings.
H. J. Bruins, J. van der Plicht, and A. Mazar (2003)
Science 300, 315-318
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Regional 14CO2 Offsets in the Troposphere: Magnitude, Mechanisms, and Consequences.
B. Kromer, S. W. Manning, P. I. Kuniholm, M. W. Newton, M. Spurk, and I. Levin (2001)
Science 294, 2529-2532
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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