On C14 dating
This from a Nova programme 'Ancient Refuge in the Holy land' http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/an ... -land.html so we might favour the older end of any range (good news for the Olympiasts, sadly), Richard died 1485 so 30 years after the oldest date and 55 before the oldest; Amphipolis is 1,800 years older than Richard III so its range will be wider, they will not be able to differentiate between 316 and 287 BC, but may be able to identify intrusive burials which would most likely date to after the final defeat of the Antigonids in 167 BC.RICHARD FREUND: It's called Broshi's Law. Magen Broshi came up with a law when they carbon-dated all of the Dead Sea Scrolls but they still had a 200 year gap, and they couldn't figure out. And Broshi's Law was an experiment that they did on letters from the Cave of Letters. Why? Because the Cave of Letters has dated documents.
NARRATOR: Using three letters from Bar Kokhba, archeologist Magen Broshi compared the actual dates appearing on the letters to the results of the carbon-14 analysis. In each case, the actual date of the letters corresponded almost exactly with the older date in the carbon-14 range.
RICHARD FREUND: Broshi's Law is, "You always follow the older extreme." That's what they use in the Dead Sea Scrolls; I didn't make this law up.
I think the cist grave must be contemporary with the monument as it is structurally accomodated by the floor and the cremation associated with that occupant as the practice passed out of use later although this is pure supposition. I do not think a 'high-status' mass grave is a viable option despite much being unique.
Obfuscation seems to be the watchword and still not a single piece of dating evidence revealed.