RADIOCARBON DATING AND ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY IN SARDINIA AND CORSICA

Sardinia and Corsica do not have the overall radiocarbon dating coverage that mainland Italy has, despite the increasingly recognized significance they played in Mediterranean prehistory. Nevertheless, great strides have been made in the last twenty-five years in piecing together the prehistoric cultural sequence and chronology of these islands, due in large part to the excavation of a few key sites. Over 200 radiocarbon dates are compiled here, ranging from the Upper Paleolithic sequence of Corbeddu Cave in Sardinia, to the Nuragic and Torrean cultures of the Bronze and Iron Ages, and calibrated using the latest calibration curves (Calib 3.0.3). After a discussion of the context of the dates for each successive cultural period, an absolute chronology for Sardinia is presented. Although heuristic, this scheme should facilitate the study of interconnections between Sardinia and the contemporary mainland cultures, and provide an independent test of regional chronologies for the widespread Cardial, Beaker, and Mycenaean horizons. While the most has been made here of the limited radiocarbon data, many more radiocarbon dates from stratigraphic contexts are desperately needed. Only a single date exists for the entire Chalcolithic sequence; the beginning and end points of many cultures also need to be refined through further radiocarbon dating. Archaeologists working in Sardinia and Corsica are encouraged to collect charcoal, bone and other datable samples in the course of their excavations, and to collaborate with dating laboratories in their analysis, interpretation, and publication.