Archaeological Chronometry in Slovakia is a research project of the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the contract no. APVV-0598-10. Apart from the Comenius University, the project is realised at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra and the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic.
The aim of the project is to promote application of novel chronometric methods in Slovakian and Czech archaeology by means of research, lecturing programmes, and dissemination of knowledge through internet and printed media. These activities are to support the cross-border scholarly cooperation in Visegrad countries and strengthen interdisciplinarity of the regional archaeology.The project has three intertwined research areas:
1. Systematic collection of published radiocarbon dates measured on archaeological samples from Slovakia, Czechia, and the neighbouring regions of Austria, Poland, and Hungary
2. Mapping, collection, storage, and chronometric research of endangered archaeological and historic-architectural wood from Slovakian sites
3. Radiocarbon dating of exceptional archaeological finds with high information potential from Slovakian sites.
The presented online database of radiocarbon measurements of archaeological samples from Slovakia, Czechia, and the neighbouring countries has been built since mid-2011 at the Department of Archaeology, Comenius University in Bratislava.
The database focuses on the territory of former Czechoslovakia, but the geographically communicating adjacent areas of Austria, Hungary, and Poland are also included. It is being filled in chronological order from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages and refreshed continuously with both new dates from currently processed eras and with the previously unknown dates from already worked periods. The online version is being updated monthly. The majority of 14C dates represent published measurements, but new 100 determinations on archaeological samples from Slovakia have been planned in the project.
The database entries contain detailed information on archaeological context of the sample (site, context and exact find position of the sample, cultural assignation of the context) and sample material. Unlike other online archaeological 14C databases, our archive contains also information on δ13C values. Bibliographical references are provided for all published measurements (a primary source and also a secondary source – in the case that this contains additional information on measurement or context details). Information quality of individual entries in the database depends on the quality of the information sources.
The currently published version contains more than 2400 14C dates measured on archaeological samples mainly from the Neolithic to Iron Age coming from Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Hungary, and Poland. The bulk of dates from the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic (419 dates collected by early April 2013) will be published online in summer 2013.