Statistical analysis of radiocarbon dates as a tool for reconstruction of the environmental changes

Statistical analysis of large sets of ¹⁴C dates may be a source of information on global or regional environmental changes. Since the nineteen seventies, an analysis of the frequency distribution on a time scale of ¹⁴C -dated samples has been carried out for several selected geographic regions. This paper presents basics of the applied method and examples of cumulative probability density functions constructed for ¹⁴C dates of peat from territory of Poland. It is emphasised that preferential sampling plays an important role in such a type of analysis. The problem of absolute age determination has been discussed, too.