The Aqueduct is one of the city landmarks of Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia. It was part of a water-supply system, with a total original length of about 10 km, while its surface remains are about 385 m long. The age of the Aqueduct is not known—several hypotheses place it to periods between the 6th and 16th centuries. Six mortar samples from different positions of the eastern façade were taken for radiocarbon (14C) dating. In order to extract only the carbon associated to the time of building, three strategies for sample preparation were used: (1) mechanical separation of lime lumps formed during mortar hardening (2) selection on the basis of particle size and the ability to suspend in water induced by ultrasonic shock, and (3) collection of two gas CO2 fractions produced from the same bulk in reaction with acid. Characterization of fractions was performed by isotopic carbon composition and FTIR-ATR analyses. The most plausible results were obtained from lime lump fractions that were dated in the timeframe of 15th to 17th century.

中文翻译：

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斯科普里渡槽砂浆的放射性碳测年

渡槽是北马其顿共和国斯科普里的城市地标之一。它是供水系统的一部分，原始总长度约为 10 公里，而其地表残骸长约 385 米。渡槽的年龄未知——有几个假设将其置于 6 世纪至 16 世纪之间。从东立面的不同位置采集了六个砂浆样品进行放射性碳检测（14C) 约会。为了仅提取与建造时间相关的碳，使用了三种样品制备策略：（1）机械分离砂浆硬化过程中形成的石灰块（2）根据粒度和悬浮能力进行选择超声波冲击诱导的水，以及（3）收集两种气体CO2由相同体积与酸反应产生的馏分。通过同位素碳组成和 FTIR-ATR 分析对馏分进行表征。最可信的结果来自 15 至 17 世纪时间范围内的石灰块部分。