The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology

• The Concise Oxford Dictionary of...
• About
• Get help in the Reference Group

accelerator mass spectrometry

accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) [Te].
A method for detecting atoms of specific elements according to their atomic weights. There are a number of archaeological applications, the most common being in radiocarbon dating. Here, the addition of a series of magnetic lenses and a high-voltage ‘accelerator’ to a mass spectrometer allows ¹⁴C atoms to be detected in an ancient sample and the amount present determined in a matter of minutes. The technique provides an alternative to the conventional approach which relies on measuring the decay of ¹⁴C in a sample over a defined period (usually weeks or months). In addition to being relatively quick, AMS determinations can be made on far smaller samples of carbon (1 mg), allowing, for example, the dating of individual cereal grains. AMS is also used for determining ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios (see OXYGEN ISOTOPE ANALYSIS).

[The entire page is 152 words long]

Oxford University Press Titles

• The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology
• The Oxford Dictionary of Economics
• The Oxford Companion to American Literature
• The Oxford Companion to American Military History
• The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
• The Oxford Companion to English Literature
• The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
• The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare
• The Oxford Dictionary of Plays
• The Oxford Dictionary of Art
• Oxford Dictionary of Sociology
• Oxford Dictionary of World History
• Oxford Dictionary of World Mythology