The Carbon Dating Compilation is a structured PDF assembled by Les MacPhie consolidating the laboratory carbon-dating results obtained from Oak Island samples across the search history. The compilation gathers results from multiple periods of the search into a single reference, organised by sample location, sample type, and date of laboratory analysis.
Carbon-dating work on Oak Island has been undertaken at multiple points across the modern search, with samples drawn from coconut fibre at Smith's Cove, oak timbers from various locations on the island, and other organic material recovered during excavation and drilling. Laboratory analyses have been conducted at multiple institutions, with results that bear on the dating of the works at the site.
The compilation's consolidation of these results into a single document is the principal advantage it offers as a reference. Individual results scattered across decades of report literature are made available together, with the laboratory provenance and sample context preserved for each.
The compilation is hosted on both the Blockhouse Investigations site at oakislandcompendium.ca and the CMHS portal at oakislandmystery.com. The broader MacPhie archives institutional record is catalogued separately as id 111.
What this source documents
Consolidated record of carbon-dating results from Oak Island samples across the search history: laboratory results, sample provenance (coconut fibre from Smith's Cove, oak timbers from various locations, other organic material recovered during excavation and drilling), date of laboratory analysis, and institutional provenance of the analysis; cross-referenced with the broader documentary record of the search.
Why it matters
For research questions involving the dating of the Oak Island works through scientific analysis of recovered material, the MacPhie carbon-dating compilation is the principal single-document reference. Individual results would otherwise need to be assembled from scattered report literature, and the compilation's consolidation of laboratory provenance for each sample makes it a particularly useful reference for evaluating the consistency and reliability of the dating record.