RADIOCARBON DATING OF CHARCOALS FROM HISTORICAL MORTARS FROM TY ŘOV AND PYSOLEC CASTLES

Organic inclusions in lime binders provide useful samples for radiocarbon dating of historical objects. Two Czech castles TATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTErov and Pysolec from Late Middle Ages were explored, and tens of charcoals were found in their walls. The radiocarbon content of the charcoals was measured with accelerator mass spectrometry. The dating results showed that none of the charcoals were younger than the known historical ages (TATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH ACUTErov: 1260 - 1270, Pysolec: 1300 - 1340), but some were considerably older. Two charcoals from Pysolec castle dated to Palaeolithic, likely originating from fluvial sediments added as an aggregate to the mortar. When excluding these two charcoals, the others indicated most likely dates being 50-100 y older than the building dates of the castles. This systemic effect corresponds to the age of wood used for lime burning and shall be accounted for when dating mortars using charcoals.