ABSTRACT
Five samples of charred plant material from medieval deposits were submitted to the Queen’s University Belfast, Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory in 1989–1990 for radiocarbon dating. Sample selection for the material submitted in the 1980s was limited by the amount of carbon required for liquid scintillation counting, however, the majority of samples all have excellent taphonomic integrity; a number of the 'bulk' samples of carbonised material came from 'single event' deposits. These two samples were taken from the same charred grain deposit and yet show a difference of 132 years in their basic calibrated ages at one sigma probability. However, in his 2015 review, Peter Marshall notes that the two measurements are statistically consistent and therefore present a weighted mean as providing the best estimate for the age for the deposit. It is likely that the deposit sampled was associated with the destruction of Period III Building 467 and the transition from timber to stone construction.
