THE EFFECT OF PDF PEAKS' HEIGHT INCREASE DURING CALIBRATION OF RADIOCARBON DATE SETS

Abstract

Large sets of dates are often used to construct frequency distributions to investi- gate variability of some events, which can follow an environmental change (eg. crystalliza- tion of speleothems depends on climatic conditions). Examples of such distributions are probability density functions (PDF) created for radiocarbon dates. In order to reach reli- able conclusions concerning environmental changes, we should know how to interpret these distributions. In this study, the authors discuss the problem of a possible correlation between the presence of some high, narrow peaks in the probability density function and the shape of the calibration curve.