Results

OxA Numbers

All dates issued by ORAU have an OxA number. This denotes the result as having originated from our laboratory and is our mark of approval on the quality of the result.

We issue a series of OxA numbers depending on the level of service provided and the quality assurance applied to each individual sample. The most commonly issued OxA numbers are as follows.

Communication of Results

After quality assurance tests, the results of radiocarbon analyses will be sent out to the submitter by email. You can also see your results, and the additional chemistry data, including C/N ratios and stable isotope values, by logging in to your ORAU account. You can see an example of the report you'll receive by clicking here.

You'll also receive a calibration against the currently accepted IntCal calibration curve using OxCal. Find out more about calibration and why it's important.

Once you've recieved your results we are always happy to help with interpretation including assistance with statistical analysis, wiggle-matching, or age-depth modelling for environmental sequences.

Part of our dating service is the publication of archaeological radiocarbon dates inthe Archaeometry Datelists. We can also assist submitters with their own publications. Once results have been published we can make them available to the general public through our database. We are very grateful to submitters for keeping us informed of new publications so that we can keep our records up to date.