Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory

Radiocarbon dating is an analytical technique developed by Willard Libby in the late 1940s that allows the absolute dating of samples containing carbon, such as charcoal, wood, bone or shells. Nowadays it remains a fundamental method in scientific research involving quite different fields such as Archaeology, Archaeometry, Palaeoceanography, Quaternary Geology, Isotope Hydrology and Palaeoenvironmental Studies.

The Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory now installed at C2TN was inaugurated in 1986 and continues to be a unique facility in Portugal. The Laboratory comprises the Sample Pretreatment Laboratory, the Benzene Synthesis Line and a Liquid Scintillation Counter (Packard Tri-Carb 2770 TR/SL) that measures the amount of beta radiation emitted by the sample. This research facility has been involved in several Research Projects and provides technical services to Universities, Public and Private Institutions in the above mentioned investigation areas.

Contacts:

Maria Fátima Araújo – faraujo@ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Pedro Valério – pvalerio@ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt