Posts: 69248
Threads: 3759
Joined: August 2, 2009
Reputation:
259
RE: Scientific Dating
October 20, 2015 at 1:12 am
(This post was last modified: October 20, 2015 at 1:13 am by Minimalist.)
About 10 years ago c14 tests were conducted on an olive branch which was found buried in volcanic ash at the archaeological site of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini. The c14 dates were in the range of 1620 BC plus or minus 15 years. When compared to dendrochronology and ice cores a date of 1628 BC for the Santorini eruption was determined. Amusingly, because of the inherent plus/minus allowance, the C14 is the least precise of the three but close enough to suggest that Santorini blew it's top right around 1628 BC.
Posts: 69248
Threads: 3759
Joined: August 2, 2009
Reputation:
259
RE: Scientific Dating
October 20, 2015 at 11:20 am
One of the more important advances in radiocarbon dating has been the ability to date small and short-lived samples such as cereal grains and pollen. The problem with using wood from , say, a doorway is that C14 is only absorbed by the wood when it is alive. The C14 date tells us when the tree was cut down: we have no way of knowing how long that particular board was used in the doorway. It could have lasted a century or two. How often to you replace parts of your doorways?
But with cereal grains or pollen (or olive pits...another biggie) you get an item which comes into existence, grows, dies and is consumed in a relatively short time giving a much more precise date. Thus, what was a valid criticism of C14 dating has been rendered obsolete by advances in the technique itself.
Posts: 25314
Threads: 239
Joined: August 26, 2010
Reputation:
156
RE: Scientific Dating
October 20, 2015 at 1:57 pm
(October 20, 2015 at 11:20 am)Minimalist Wrote: How often to you replace parts of your doorways?
Oh, you'd be surprised.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
Posts: 69248
Threads: 3759
Joined: August 2, 2009
Reputation:
259
RE: Scientific Dating
October 20, 2015 at 2:45 pm
That's what happens when you keep coming home falling down drunk and trip over the damn thing.
