The drill core of Funafuti Atoll, collected by The Royal Society Coral Reef Expedition in 1896-1898, has been dated using high-precision 14 C and Sr isotope measurements determined by mass spectrometry. The core top is a Holocene reef deposit, reflecting 26.4 m of reef growth since 8 ka, and is underlaid by Pleistocene reef-lagoonal deposits separated by a series of inferred hiatuses at 26.4 m, ca. 30 m, ca. 65 m and ca. 80 m (ca. 0.1 Ma, ca. 0.2 Ma, ca. 0.3 Ma and ca. 0.6 Ma, respectively), reflecting atoll carbonate deposits associated with late Quaternary sea-level changes. In turn, the underlying sequence below ca. 80 m comprises an upper section of additional Pleistocene reef-lagoonal deposits, having a high accumulation rate greater than 100 m Ma −1 , and a heavily dolomitized lower section. Sr isotope data in the lower section provide maximum (oldest) ages for dolomite formation and, depending on the extent of the isotopic memory from precursor CaCO 3 , reflect ongoing diagenetic alteration from ca. 2.3 Ma (i.e. the oldest dolomite) or in one or more discrete diagenetic events at ca. 1 Ma, and possibly at ca. 2 Ma. This sequence reflects interaction between atoll carbonate sedimentation, tectonic subsidence and eustatic sea-level change.