U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Complexities in the Use of Bomb-Curve Radiocarbon to Determine Time Since Death of Human Skeletal Remains

NCJ Number
218444
Author(s)
Doublas H. Ubelaker; Bruce A. Buchholz
Date Published
January 2006
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This literature review examines studies pertinent to the hypothesis that patterns in time-related levels of radiocarbon injected into the atmosphere from the testing of nuclear weapons during the 1950s and early 1960s can be detected in human skeletons in amounts commensurate with an exponential curve of radiocarbon levels linked to bomb testing, thus assisting in determining time of death in human skeletal remains.
Abstract
The findings of the studies reviewed show that radiocarbon dating, with special attention to the bomb-curve values, provides a powerful new tool in estimating time of death for skeletonized human remains. The absence of bomb-related radiocarbon in skeletonized human remains generally indicates death occurred before 1950. Comparison of the radiocarbon values with the post-1950 bomb curve may also help determine when in the post-1950 era the individual was still alive. Such interpretation, however, must consider the age at death and the type of tissue sampled. There is considerable potential for estimating time since death in such analyses by examining factors that influence the timing of bone turnover in particular tissues and different anatomical areas. Modern accelerator mass spectrometry procedures require minimal sampling, and Lanting et al. (2001) have reported successful dating of the mineral (carbonate) component even of cremated bones. Studies show that from its peak in 1963, the level of radiocarbon in the atmosphere has decreased exponentially, with a mean life of approximately 16 years, not because of radioactive decay, but because of mixing with large marine and terrestrial carbon reservoirs. Because radiocarbon is incorporated into all living things, the bomb pulse is an isotopic chronometer of the past half century. 2 figures, 2 tables, and 30 references