Sothic Cycle, and as a result experts have moved away from relying on this Cycle. For example, Donald B. Redford, in attempting to fix the date of the end of the Eighteenth dynasty, almost completely ignores the Sothic evidence, relying on synchronicities between Egypt and Assyria (by way of the Hittites), and help from astronomical observations. Radiocarbon dating. This is useful especially for the Early Dynastic period, where Egyptological consensus has only been possible within a range of about three or four centuries. Radiocarbon dating is roughly consistent with Shaw's conventional chronology. A 2013 study found a First Dynasty start in the 32nd or 31st century, compatible with scholarly opinions placing it in between the 34th and 30th centuries. The Thera eruption. This is a famous conundrum not just in Egyptian but also in Aegean (Minoan) chronology, as the radiocarbon date for the eruption, between 1627 and 1600 BC (p=5%), is off by a full century compared to the date traditionally accepted in archaeology of c. 1500 BC. Since 2012, there have been suggestions that the solution lies in adjusting both dates towards a "compromise" date in the mid 16th century BC, but as of 2014 the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved. Dendrochronology. There have been occasional opportunities to use dendrochronology to support Egyptian chronology, mostly for the New Kingdom period, e.g. the Uluburun shipwreck. Combined use of dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating allowed identification of tree rings even back to the Middle Kingdom period, as in the coffin of Ipi-ha-ishutef (dated 2073±9 BC) or the funerary boat of Senusret III (dated 1887±11 BC; conventional reign date 1878 BC–1839 BC). Alternative chronologies A number of suggestions for alternatives to the consensus on the conventional chronology have been presented during the 20th century: The Revised Chronology of Immanuel Velikovsky as postulated in his Ages in Chaos series. The chronology of Donovan Courville as described in The Exodus Problem and Its Ramifications. The Glasgow Chronology formulated by members of Velikovsky's Society for Interdisciplinary Studies in 1978. The Centuries of Darkness (1991) model by Peter James et al. "would move the end of the Egyptian New Kingdom from 1070 BC to around 825 BC", and lower all earlier dates with it, due to miscalculations of the Third Intermediate Period. The New Chronology of David Rohl, as described in his Test of Time series. See also History of ancient Egypt List of Pharaohs Chronology