This study indicates, as the recent Carbon-14 analysis of lime mortar from the Episcopal Basilica at Stobi, Yugoslavia, that Carbon-14 mortar analysis is a valuable tool for dating successive phases of construction in historical monuments. At the Gothic church of Saint-Bénigne in Dijon, France, Carbon-14 analysis of lime mortar verified the archaeological discovery of the remains of four documented churches beneath the present building. Most important 14C confirmed the discovery of the 11th-century church built by William of Volpiano which is described in the Chronicle of Saint-Benigne between 1055 and 1075 A.C. Carbon-14 analysis also identified remains from the 9th-century church, which this building replaced, and from an earlier 6th-century church on the site. The 12th-century rebuilding of the 11th-century church was also verified. Carbon-14 evidence also corroborated the date of foundations for a late 15th/early 16th-century choir screen built within the present 13th-century Gothic church. This study is the most extensive Carbon-14 analysis of medieval mortar yet undertaken.
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Malone et al. (1980) studied this question.