Abstract
The transition from the Terminal Pleistocene to the Holocene is one of the most intensively studied periods from the viewpoint of both environmental reconstruction and the Palaeolithic/Mesolithic chronologies. Even though detailed chronologies have been established in the last decade, linkages between radiometric dates and archaeological records remain to be resolved, particularly with reference to the calibrated and uncalibrated ages of radiocarbon dating. This paper focuses on issues of calibrated radiocarbon dates and archaeology in north Central Europe during the transitional period between the Last Glacial and the Postglacial, for comparison with the Japanese case in the same context. The following points are discussed: (1) evaluation of the disparity between calibrated dates and uncalibrated dates in archaeological records; (2) appropriate conventions for description of 14C dates and their calibration; and (3) the correlation of calibrated dates and calendar years.
