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Archaeologists believe Egypts large pyramids are the work of the Old Kingdom society that rose to
prominence in the Nile Valley after 3000 B.C. Historical analysis tells us that the Egyptians built the
Giza Pyramids in a span of 85 years between 2589 and 2504 BC.
Interest in Egyptian chronology is widespread in both popular and scholarly circles. We wanted to use
science to test the accepted historical dates of several Old Kingdom monuments.
Previous estimates
One radioactive, or unstable, carbon isotope is C14, which decays over time and therefore provides
scientists with a kind of clock for measuring the age of organic material.
The earliest experiments in radiocarbon dating were done on ancient material from Egypt. Willard F.
Libbys team obtained acacia wood from the 3rd Dynasty Step Pyramid of Djoser to test a hypothesis
they had developed.
Libby reasoned that since the half-life of C14 was 5568 years, the Djoser samples C14 concentration
should be about 50% of the concentration found in living wood (for further details, see Arnold and
Libby, 1949). The results proved their hypothesis correct.
Subsequent work with radiocarbon testing raised questions about the fluctuation of atmospheric C14
over time. Scientists have developed calibration techniques to adjust for these fluctuations.
What is radiocarbon dating?
All living things are built of carbon atoms. There are various isotopes, or species, of
carbon atoms with the same atomic number but different mass.
One radioactive, or unstable, carbon isotope is C14, which decays over time and therefore
provides scientists with a kind of clock for measuring the age of organic material.
While alive, all plants and animals take C14 into their bodies. The numbers of C14 atoms
and non-radioactive carbon atoms remain approximately the same over time during the
organisms life. As soon as a plant or animal dies, the carbon uptake stops. The radioactive
carbon isotope is no longer replenished; it only decays.
Scientists have calculated the rate at which C14 decays. By measuring how much C14
remains in a sample of organic material, we can estimate its age within a range of dates.
Samples older than 50,000 to 60,000 years are not useful for radiocarbon testing because
by then, the amount of C14 remaining is too small to be dated. But material from the time
of the pyramids lends itself well to radiocarbon dating because they fall into the 2575-1640
date range.
Radiocarbon technicians prefer to test wood and wood charcoal because their high
molecular weight mitigates material loss during the rigorous pretreatments required for
radiocarbon testing. We focused our collection efforts on tiny pieces of these materials,
along with reed and straw left by the ancient builders.
1984
1994-1995
In 1994-1995 the David H. Koch Foundation supported us for another round of radiocarbon dating.
We broadened our sampling to include material from:
We also took samples from our Giza Plateau Mapping Project Lost City excavations (4th Dynasty),
where we discovered two largely intact bakeries in 1991. Ancient baking left deposits of ash and
Comparison 1984/1995
The number of dates from the two projects was only large enough to allow for statistical comparisons
for the pyramids of Djoser, Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure.
There are two striking results.
First, there are significant discrepancies between the 1984 and 1995 dates for Khufu and Khafre, but
not for Djoser and Menkaure.
Second, the 1995 dates vary widely even for a single monument. For Khufus Great Pyramid, they
scatter over a range of about 400 years.
Date agreements
We have fair agreement for the 1st Dynasty tombs at North Saqqara between our historical dates,
previous radiocarbon dates, and our radiocarbon dates on reed material.
We also have fair agreement between our radiocarbon dates and historical dates for the Middle
Kingdom. Eight calibrated dates on straw from the pyramid of Senwosret II (1897-1878 BC) ranged
from 103 years older to 78 years younger than the historical dates for his reign.
Four of the Senwosret II dates were only off by 30, 24, 14, and three years. Significantly, the older date
was on charcoal (see old-wood problem below).
Test results from Middle Kingdom pyramid (Senwosret II).
Three of the eight radiocarbon dates from samples taken at our excavation at the Lost City are almost
direct hits on Menkaures historical dates: 2532- 2504 BC. The other five range from 350 to 100 years
older.
Our radiocarbon results from the Lost City site suggest that the dates on charcoal scatter widely, like
those from the pyramids, with many dates older than the historical estimate. The inhabitants were very
likely recycling their own settlement debris during the 85 or so years that they were building pyramids.
Conclusions
It may have been premature to dismiss the old wood problem in our 1984 study. Radiocarbon dating
can only tell us when a tree died, not when it was last used. Wood may lay around for centuries before
being burned, especially in a dry climate like Egypt.
Also, any living forest or stand of trees will have old trees and very young shoots. Any individual tree
will have old parts (the inner rings) and very young parts (the outer rings and small branches).
Do our radiocarbon dates reflect the Old Kingdom deforestation of Egypt?
Did the pyramid builders exploit whatever wood they could harvest?
Or did they have to scavenge for wood to burn tons of gypsum for mortar, to forge copper chisels, and
to bake bread for thousands of assembled laborers?
The giant stone pyramids in the early Old Kingdom may mark a major depletion of Egypts exploitable
wood. This may be the reason for the wide scatter and history-unfriendly radiocarbon dating results
from the Old Kingdom.
While the multiple old-wood effects make it difficult to obtain pinpoint age estimates of pyramids, the
David H. Koch Pyramids Radiocarbon Project now has us thinking about forest ecologies, site
formation processes, and ancient industry and its environmental impactin sum, the society and
economy that left the Egyptian pyramids as hallmarks for all later humanity.