ABSTRACT. We document chemical laboratory procedures and results on international comparison samples at the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies, Debrecen, Hungary. We also show results using the new MICADAS system and compare these results to internationally recognized standards and blank materials. The newly developed sample preparation system in HEKAL can handle samples as 1) organic material, 2) cellulose fraction of plant, 3) bones, 4) carbonate and shell, and 5) dissolved inorganic carbon of groundwater. The results of radiocarbon measurements on intercomparison samples confirm the reliability of the sample preparation system at HEKAL Lab and also the good performance of the MICADAS 14 C system. The blank levels for each type of sample of 1 mg C carbon content are well reproducible, ~0.3-0.5 pMC.

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ABSTRACT. We document chemical laboratory procedures and results on international comparison samples at the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies, Debrecen, Hungary. We also show results using the new MICADAS system and compare these results to internationally recognized standards and blank materials. The newly developed sample preparation system in HEKAL can handle samples as 1) organic material, 2) cellulose fraction of plant, 3) bones, 4) carbonate and shell, and 5) dissolved inorganic carbon of groundwater. The results of radiocarbon measurements on intercomparison samples confirm the reliability of the sample preparation system at HEKAL Lab and also the good performance of the MICADAS 14 C system. The blank levels for each type of sample of 1 mg C carbon content are well reproducible, ~0.3-0.5 pMC.

The chief objective of this paper is to improve our understanding of the Neolithic in Eastern Hungary using absolute chronological data. To accomplish this we calibrated new measurements as well as previously published dates. The up-to-date, standardized evaluation of 261 calibrated measurements showed temporal overlaps between archaeological cultures defined on the basis of ceramic styles. The increasing number of dates suggest that the Neolithic period began at the turn of the 6th and 7th millennia bc and lasted for ca. 1500 yr in the present area of the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld). Further research should be aimed at complementing the current data set with dates from western Hungary and establishing additional correlations among stratigraphic, typological and radiocarbon dates.