On Friday, 28 November 2025, the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB) invites you to the 47th ArchaeoSciences seminar. This edition’s guest speaker is Dr. Tiberiu Sava from the University of Bern (Switzerland), who will present a lecture titled “Advances in Radiocarbon Dating”.
The seminar will take place starting at 15:00 (EET) at the Administrative Building within the “Dimitrie Brândză” Botanical Garden (Șoseaua Cotroceni 32, Bucharest), room P08, ground floor.
About the presentation
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C dating has become an indispensable tool across archaeology, anthropology, and the paleo-sciences. Recent developments demonstrate that compact AMS instruments can now reliably measure samples at the microgram scale from a wide range of materials — from charcoal to atmospheric methane (CH₄). With increasingly sophisticated preparation protocols, specific molecular fractions can be isolated and dated individually, as in compound-specific radiocarbon analysis (CSRA) of fatty acids. Innovations in bone pretreatment have also advanced rapidly, exemplified by the “non-destructive radiocarbon dating of bone” method developed by Tom Higham and collaborators. These methodological breakthroughs are transforming both the precision and the scope of radiocarbon applications.
Finally, itwill present an overview of the LARA Laboratory for Radiocarbon Dating in Bern, Switzerland, highlighting its infrastructure, measurement capabilities, and general modus operandi.
Dr. Tiberiu Sava is a nuclear physicist specializing in Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and, in particular, radiocarbon dating using the AMS method. He founded the radiocarbon dating laboratory, RoAMS, at the Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), the first AMS laboratory in Romania. He led the laboratory from 2014 to 2020, during which time he was involved in numerous research projects with teams of specialists in archaeology, environmental sciences, heritage, and physics. In May 2022, he will move to the industry, joining the AMS systems manufacturer Ionplus AG in Switzerland. In July 2024, he will begin working as an Associate Researcher at the LARA (Laboratory for the Analysis of Radiocarbon with AMS) at the University of Bern, Switzerland.
These seminars are an original initiative of the ArchaeoSciences Platform (ASp) at ICUB, which aims to provide an open space for professionals in archaeological sciences worldwide to share knowledge and engage with the latest methodological and theoretical advances in the study of the past. They also offer Romanian students a valuable opportunity to discover the interdisciplinary dimensions of archaeology and archaeosciences.
SECŢIUNE ACCESIBILIZATĂ PENTRU PERSOANELE CU DIZABILITĂŢI DE VEDERE
Postări asemănătoare:
ICUB invites you to the lecture “The Evolution of Human Diversity”, delivered by Dr. Mircea Iliescu, from the University of Cambridge
ICUB invites you to the lecture “Ancient Alchemies: Analytical Identification of Psychotropic Substances in Archaeology”, delivered by Dr. Enrico Greco, from the University of South Florida
ICUB invites you to the lecture „Cognitive and Semiotic Archaeology at the Service of Archaeological Science: The Case of Early Body Ornamentation”, delivered by Dr. Antonis Iliopoulos from Emory University, USA
