The UCR Radiocarbon Laboratory was founded in 1973 by Professor R. Ervin (Erv) Taylor (b. 1938). It operated in the Department of Anthropology and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. Under Taylor's supervision, laboratory staff were responsible for dating thousands of specimens sent by various universities and cultural heritage organizations from all over the world. The lab was built between 1970 and 1973. Lab staff began processing samples in November of 1972. The CO2 counting system used to date samples was modeled on concepts developed at the UCLA and New Zealand's Institute of Nuclear Science Laboratories. The UCR Radiocarbon Lab closed in 2006 after more than thirty years of operation.

Erv Taylor was an anthroplogist and a specialist in radiocarbon dating. He obtained a B.A. in history from Pacific Union College in 1960. He completed two masters degrees at UCLA, first in history (1965), then in anthropology (1967). He began his career in radiocarbon dating as a Ph.D. student and research assistant in the Radiocarbon Lab of Willard Libby at UCLA. Libby was a well-known chemist responsible for the development of the radiocarbon dating method for which he received the 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Both Willard Libby and Rainer Berger served on the committee for Taylor's dissertation, "Chronological Problems in West Mexican Archaeology: A Study in the Application of a Dating Systems Approach in Archaeological Research." Taylor earned his Ph.D. in anthropology at UCLA in 1970.

Taylor was a professor at California State University, Northridge from 1967-1969. Upon completing his Ph.D., Taylor was hired as a professor in the Department of Anthropology at UCR. He established the UCR Radiocarbon Lab and worked as the director until 2003. He was also head of the Department of Anthropology from 1993-2000. He retired in 2005.

Taylor is recognized for his achievements in New World archaeology. Much of his research focused on archaeometry, archaeological geochronology (particularly radiocarbon dating) and the early peopling of the New World, particularly in Southern California and Mexico. His lab was the first to date the Kennewick skeleton in 1996. He is also known for his significant contributions to the scholarly literature in his field. One of his first important papers proved that shell could be accurately dated using radiocarbon technology. He published over one hundred articles and six books, including two notable reference works, Radiocarbon Dating: an Archaeological Perspective and Radiocarbon After Four Decades: an Interdisciplary Perspective.

Taylor received accolades during his career, include the Fryxell Award for Interdisciplinary Research from the Society of American Archaeology in 2004. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Anthropological Association. He was also a co-founder of the Society for Archaeological Sciences (SAS) and served as its first president from 1980-1981.

Taylor passed away on May 9, 2019.