Excellence in measurement
LMC14’s activity is divided between providing carbon-14 measurement services for the research programs of its five supervisory bodies (80%) and its own research programs (20%).
LMC14’s research and development activities are aimed at maintaining the excellence of the measurements, meeting the evolving requirements of international research and developing or participating in research projects:
- ANR iSOPALIN project: a multi-isotopic approach to reconstituting the growth environments of flax fibers used in ancient Egypt
- ANR CERASTONE project
- Notre-Dame de Paris scientific project
- Inter-comparison campaign organized by the international radiocarbon community: https://lmc14.lsce.ipsl.fr/intercalib.php
Some examples of research projects carried out at the LMC14
- Dating rock art: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1523158113
- Dating ferrous metals in architecture (Gothic cathedrals, Angkor temples): https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0280945
- Establishment of an absolute chronology for Ancient Egypt: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1189395
- Dating of ancient musical instruments: https://www.cea.fr/presse/Pages/actualites-communiques/sciences-de-la-matiere/carbone-14-musique-antiquite.aspx
- Dating lead white, an ancient pigment and cosmetic: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65929-7 ; https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-018-0034-y
- TV-Report on the radiocarbon study of an iron anchor discovered off the coast of La Grande Motte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8aG-Tj8n94&list=PLjk_2UG-CeKb5yC5MZR5jbq7_PekjwCch&index=2