Definition editor: select calibration curves

This page allows you to select the calibration curve to be used for each determination parameter.

Accessing this page

This page can be accessed from a definition elicitation page by clicking "Calibration curves" within the stage bar. It is only accessible from the stage bar when all information for preceding stages is complete. The page is also shown automatically when the software needs to know which calibration curve to use for each of your determination parameters.

Description

The page allows you to select a single curve to use for all determination parameters within the project or to select calibration curves for each determination parameter individually.

If you only require one calibration curve for the whole project, you should select this as the master curve and click Submit. If, however, you require a mixture of curves, you should choose the most common curve as the master curve. Then you should select curves individually for each determination parameter that uses another curve. You should leave determination parameters that use the master curve unselected (i.e. reading "select one").

The "errors" box beside each calibration curve allows you to specify whether or not BCal should use the errors within that calibration curve during the calibration process. By default this box is checked, meaning that the errors are used. If you do not wish to use the errors, you should uncheck the box.

BCal will automatically assign the master curve to determination parameters which are unselected. If you wish to assign the master curve to all the determination parameters (regardless of their current setting), you should check the box labelled "Apply to all". This is useful, for example, when you wish to change the calibration curve used by all determination parameters in one go.

Notes

The current curves available within BCal are:
- 2013 14C atmospheric calibration curve for 50,000 - 0 cal BP (Reimer et al, 2013),
- 2013 14C marine calibration curve for 50,000 - 0 cal BP (Reimer et al, 2013), and
- 2013 14C Southern hemisphere calibration curve for 50,000 - 0 cal BP (Hogg et al, 2013)
available at the website of the journal Radiocarbon as supplementary material to the 2013 Calibration Special Issue (Volume 55, nr 4, 2013).
- 2004 14C atmospheric calibration curve for 26,000 - 0 cal BP (Reimer et al, 2004),
- 2004 14C marine calibration curve for 26,000 - 0 cal BP (Hughen et al, 2004), and
- 2004 14C Southern hemisphere calibration curve for 12,400 - 0 cal BP (McCormac et al, 2004)
available at the website of the journal Radiocarbon as supplementary material to the 2004 Calibration Special Issue (Volume 46, nr 3, 2004).
- 1998 14C atmospheric decadal data set (24,000 - 0 cal BP), and
- 1998 14C marine decadal data set (24,000 - 0 cal BP)
provided by the Quaternary Isotope Laboratory, University of Washington; see (Stuiver 1998).
If you wish to use a curve other than those supplied please contact the BCal administrator.