Form instructions

For sample submission it is generally easiest to submit information online. If you are unable to do this for any reason printed forms can be sent (please contact our administrator).

Help with filling in online sample submission form

The online sample submission form can be filled in with any up-to-date web-browser. Having filled in the form online you can also track your samples through the lab and pick up results and details of sample treatment online too.

You may be able to work out what to do without any specific instructions but if you need it, here is some further information.

The stages involved in filling in the form are:

• Follow the link above to our online sample submission.
• Log in using you username and password or request a new one if you have not used OxCal or our database before.
• Fill in your details (name and address) if you have not already done so - these will automatically be copied onto your sample submission form.
• Go to the sample submission form and press the [Edit] button to edit the form.
• Fill in the sections of the form these are:
  • Submitter - filled in automatically from your details.
  • Project - overall information about the project.
  • Special requirements - to alert us of these on submission.
  • Sites - a list of sites or groups of dates that share a common location
    • Press the [New Site] button to enter a new site
    • Press [Get location] to look up existing locations on our database and to add the Country, Region, Site and Location information. The location must be specified either in UK/Ireland national grid reference form or as longitude and latitude (eg from Google Earth).
    • Environment (required) - eg excavation, museum - to help us assess appropriate treatment
    • Period (required) - indication of likely age of the sample - eg Bronze Age, Palaeolithic, Holocene etc.
    • Altitude - of the site above sea level in metres.
    • Grid bearing - if specifying x, y coordinates of samples - the direction of the y axis.
    • Z used - is specifying z cooridinates of samples if this is depth below site datum or height above it.
    • Samples - a list of all samples from a particular site.
      • Press the [New Sample] button to enter a new sample
      • Fill in the main entries: Sample ref (required - your id for the sample), material (required), species, context and z coordinate (usually depth).
      • Fill in additional information on context security conservation and notes in the drop-down box if using the table view, or shown in the main list if using the sample view.
• Note that many headings on the form will display help if you hold your mouse cursor over them.
• You can switch between two views of the form using the [> Sample view] and [> Table view] buttons. The table view is more suitable for long lists of samples, and the Sample view is easier for one or a small number of samples.
• We advise you to save the form every quarter of an hour or so in case you become disconnected from the server or otherwise loose your information.
• Only entries with a black dot next to them are required - but the more information you lodge with us the better. For example when calibrating dates any depth information from the database will be able to be transferred directly to OxCal from our database. Location information can also be used to map samples on Google Earth.
• When you have finished, submit the form by pressing the [Submit] button. This will send us and you a copy of the form and lodge the details on our database awaiting the arrival of the samples.
• Print the form using the [Print] button and send us a copy of it with the samples and a signed copy of our Terms and Conditions.