In spite of carbon dating being over thirty years old and the fact that in that period many thousands of dates have been produced, the conventional counting technique still suffers from certain drawbacks. Comparatively large samples are required, the time for an analysis is long, and the signal-to-background ratios obtainable are low. Recent work in a number of labs. has shown that despite the very low ₁₄C/₁₂C ratio in natural carbon, it is possible to measure this ratio using a mass spectrometer of special design operating on ions accelerated by several MeV. The problems are discussed and a dedicated ₁₄C dating system which is presently under construction at Oxford is described. -- AATA