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p3k14c, a synthetic global database of archaeological radiocarbon dates.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Miranda, Lux 
Vander Linden, Marc 
Robinson, Erick 

Abstract

Archaeologists increasingly use large radiocarbon databases to model prehistoric human demography (also termed paleo-demography). Numerous independent projects, funded over the past decade, have assembled such databases from multiple regions of the world. These data provide unprecedented potential for comparative research on human population ecology and the evolution of social-ecological systems across the Earth. However, these databases have been developed using different sample selection criteria, which has resulted in interoperability issues for global-scale, comparative paleo-demographic research and integration with paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. We present a synthetic, global-scale archaeological radiocarbon database composed of 180,070 radiocarbon dates that have been cleaned according to a standardized sample selection criteria. This database increases the reusability of archaeological radiocarbon data and streamlines quality control assessments for various types of paleo-demographic research. As part of an assessment of data quality, we conduct two analyses of sampling bias in the global database at multiple scales. This database is ideal for paleo-demographic research focused on dates-as-data, bayesian modeling, or summed probability distribution methodologies.

Description

Keywords

Data Descriptor, /706/689/19/27, /639/638, data-descriptor

Journal Title

Sci Data

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2052-4463
2052-4463

Volume Title

9

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONCYT) (Fondecyt #118012, ANID_PIA/BASAL FB0002)
National Science Foundation (NSF) (BCS 14-18858, BCS 16-24061, 18-22033)