Documenting Your Collections
Info-Muse Network Documentation Guide

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Absolute/Relative Date (Dating)

Definition:

Observations:

1. Use this field only if the date associated with the object was determined using a dating technique.
2. This field is used in conjunction with the Dating Technique field.
   Example 1

   	Absolute/Relative Date	3700 ± 145
   	Dating technique	thermoluminescence

   Example 2

   	Absolute/Relative Date	3000 to 2000
   	Dating technique	typology

Entry rules:

1. BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) dates should be converted to BP (Before Present).
   Example

   	Absolute/Relative Date	1300 ± 70
   	Dating technique	radiocarbon
   	and not
   	Absolute/Relative Date	-650

2. Do not include any abbreviation after the dating value.
3. Enter the absolute date in the form of a series of at most eight digits, followed by a space and the standard deviation.
   Example

   	Absolute/Relative Date	4550 ± 200
   	Dating technique	radiocarbon

4. Enter the standard deviation in the form of the date, followed by a space and ±, a space and the standard deviation.
   Example

   	Absolute/Relative Date	9000 ± 100
   	Dating technique	radiocarbon

5. Enter the relative date by indicating an interval in the form of the date, a space, "to", a space and the other date.
   Example

   	Absolute/Relative Date	2000 to 1500
   	Dating technique	typology

6. Always enter the absolute date obtained with the radiocarbon dating technique, and not the corrected date.
7. Any other information should be indicated in the Cataloguer Remarks field.
   Example

   	Absolute/Relative Date	920 ± 25
   	Dating technique	radiocarbon
   	Cataloguer Remarks	Dating laboratory number: GX-6131G

8. This field may contain multiple entries separated by a semicolon followed by a space.
   Example

   	Object Name	vase
   	Material	clay
   	Absolute/Relative Date	3000 to 2000; 1750 ± 200
   	Dating technique	physico-chemical analysis; thermoluminescence