This paper presents the results of an inter-comparative study in view of assessing the reliability of radiocarbon dates obtained on calcined bones from open-air Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites. The results demonstrate that the success rate is largely dependent on site-taphonomy, in particular the speed of covering of the site. Sites quickly covered by aeolian, alluvial or marine sediments yield on average good dating results. At worst they can be affected by an wood-age offset, generally <100 years, caused by the uptake of carbon from the firewood. Sites which are uncovered or have been covered rather late suffer from contamination problems resulting in radiocarbon dates much younger than the reference dates. For these sites, which unfortunately represent the vast majority of open-air Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites, calcined bones are not a valuable dating material for developing robust, decadal-to-centennial chronologies.

考虑到评估从露天旧石器时代和中石器时代遗址煅烧的骨头上获得的放射性碳数据的可靠性，本文提出了一项比较研究的结果。结果表明，成功率在很大程度上取决于站点的排字法，尤其是站点的覆盖速度。很快被风沙，冲积或海洋沉积物覆盖的地点，平均测年结果良好。在最坏的情况下，它们可能会受到木柴年龄补偿的影响，通常是<100年，这是由于从柴火中吸收碳造成的。未被发现或被覆盖较晚的地点遭受污染问题，导致放射性碳年代比参考时期年轻得多。对于这些站点，不幸的是，这些站点代表了露天旧石器时代和中石器时代的绝大多数站点，