Radiocarbon Dating Visualisation Project: the importance of assessing the reliability of radiocarbon determinations for Aboriginal cultural heritage places in Victoria

Caroline Spry
La Trobe University

Co-Author/s
Jacqui Tumney
Rebekah Kurpiel
David Thomas

The Radiocarbon Dating Visualisation Project was undertaken by La Trobe Archaeology Research Partnerships in collaboration with Aboriginal Victoria, to compile and verify as complete a list as possible of radiocarbon determinations from Aboriginal places in Victoria. The project builds on previous lists compiled by numerous other researchers, adding over 400 radiocarbon age determinations, primarily from the ‘grey’ literature. Data verification involved consulting primary source materials to obtain or confirm details about the context and project from which the sample derived and the laboratory analyses that produced the age estimate. An assessment of the reliability of each radiocarbon determination was also undertaken. The verified list is available to Traditional Owners, Heritage Advisors and researchers with access to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register, and to a more general audience through an interactive digital visualisation. This poster, the third of three relating to this project, investigates the assessed reliability of the radiocarbon determinations, and considers the implications of assessing (or not assessing) the reliability of radiocarbon determinations in archaeology.