ABSTRACT
The last decade witnessed an increased interest in applications of the 14C dating of art and cultural heritage objects. Among material studied typically are parchment, textiles, paper, and wood. The nuclear tests of the 1950s and early 1960s left an excess of 14C in the atmosphere; in effect this so-called “bomb peak” 14C provides an excellent tracer and detector of material formed between 1955 and the present day. However, the anthropogenic impact on our environment poses future limitations to the application of the method. The addition of 14C-free CO2, which originates from fossil fuel combustion, results in an artificially old atmosphere. Examples of the use of the bomb peak to detect recent forgeries as well as the problem of the effect fossil fuel combustion has on 14C dating will be addressed in this chapter. Finally, the issue of using 14C analysis to validate antique objects on the market is discussed. A unified approach to this problem by the radiocarbon community requires future collaborations with museums and institutions of cultural heritage protection. Only an interdisciplinary collaboration will increase effectiveness and assure that in the future, 14C dating will not be used to support the illicit antiquity trade.
