RADIOCARBON MEASUREMENTS OF PAPER: A FORENSIC CASE STUDY TO DETERMINE THE ABSOLUTE AGE OF PAPER IN DOCUMENTS AND WORKS OF ART

摘要

In a case study to assess the possibilities and limitations of determining the exact age of paper, we measured radiocarbon (C-14) concentrations in bulk-paper cellulose and starch extracts from 20 known-age paper samples of the last 65 yr. As expected, C-14 concentrations in single-seasonal grown starch extracts are in reasonably good agreement with post-bomb atmospheric C-14. In contrast, C-14 concentrations in bulk-paper cellulose indicate apparent admixtures of tree-ring fibers spanning up to >50 yr. In a forensic investigation, combining C-14 results from single-seasonal components like starch with those from long-lived fibers, could potentially enhance the precision of paper production-date estimates for samples made after 1955.