New Zealand has a comparatively short history of human settlement (~800 years) but even so dating Māori archaeological sites and artefacts can be problematic. Radiocarbon dating is commonly used to establish calendar dates but the effect of variations in atmospheric radiocarbon on calibrated age ranges (~100 to 150 years for individual carbon dates) reduces precision. This talk introduces three linked projects that are investigating the potential to improve dating of Māori sites and wooden artefacts using dendrochronology and high resolution wiggle-match carbon dating.
