Much of archeology and anthropology depends on the accuracy of carbon dating, the method of determining age by measuring radioative emissions from carbon 14 atoms and comparing them to the equilibrium level of living organisms. The radioactivity drops of at a constant rate. A simple calculation then gives us the age of the specimen.
Several years ago some workers in Great Britain uncovered a human head in some peat moss by a neighborhood. There was still part of the eye intact and plenty of hair. After some preliminary studies a group had it carbon dated and placed it at 2,000 years old. The skull was then put in the British Museum. If you look up info on a head found in the Lindow Bog you'll find out that the case is pretty much closed. You'll also find that a man living near where the head was found says the head actually belongs to his wife, whom he murdered, dismembered and buried in the Bog. Scientists say he's wrong, but he is in prison for the rest of his life.
That's all the information you'll find, but a professor from a nearby university later examined photos of the dead woman and photos of the skull and says they're too close a match. He wants the British Museum to release the skull for further studies, but they refuse.
If carbon dating is shown to be unreliable then our idea of the universe has to change rapidly!
The bones of an Arcocanthosaurus (this is a dinosaur) were carbon dated in the early nineties and all the dates recorded ranged from 9,890 to 36,500 years old. Interesting.
Living trees were dated at 10,000 years old.
Ice Age materials were dated to the first century AD.
What say you?
Several years ago some workers in Great Britain uncovered a human head in some peat moss by a neighborhood. There was still part of the eye intact and plenty of hair. After some preliminary studies a group had it carbon dated and placed it at 2,000 years old. The skull was then put in the British Museum. If you look up info on a head found in the Lindow Bog you'll find out that the case is pretty much closed. You'll also find that a man living near where the head was found says the head actually belongs to his wife, whom he murdered, dismembered and buried in the Bog. Scientists say he's wrong, but he is in prison for the rest of his life.
That's all the information you'll find, but a professor from a nearby university later examined photos of the dead woman and photos of the skull and says they're too close a match. He wants the British Museum to release the skull for further studies, but they refuse.
If carbon dating is shown to be unreliable then our idea of the universe has to change rapidly!
The bones of an Arcocanthosaurus (this is a dinosaur) were carbon dated in the early nineties and all the dates recorded ranged from 9,890 to 36,500 years old. Interesting.
Living trees were dated at 10,000 years old.
Ice Age materials were dated to the first century AD.
What say you?
