Recent technological advances allow researchers to obtain radiocarbon ages from smaller samples than previously possible. We investigate the reliability and precision of radiocarbon ages obtained from miniature (11–150 μg C) samples of terrestrial plant fragments taken from sediment cores from Lake Żabińskie, Poland. We further investigate how sampling density (the number of ages per 1000 years) and sample mass (which is related to age precision) influence the performance of age–depth models.