A recent article describing the latest recalibration of radiocarbon dating between 12,000 and 50,000 years ago gives me a great opportunity to talk about this fascinating topic.
Professor Gerry McCormac and Dr. Paula Reimer pictured in the 14 Chrono Centre at Queen's University Belfast. Staff at the center have been involved in the creation of a new calibration curve, which significantly improves radiocarbon calibrations back to 50,000 years. © Queen's University Belfast
Last June, the 20th International Radiocarbon Conference ratified IntCal09, the latest in a long chain of radiocarbon calibrations. IntCal09 significantly improves the accuracy of radiocarbon dates between 12,000 and 50,000 years ago. That should shed a bit of light on some of the hottest topics going in archaeology—including dating the human migration into the Americas. More importantly, to folks outside of archaeology, the new calibration may help us to better understand the timing and events associated with massive climate change in the past.
The new calibration was published in late 2009 in the journal Radiocarbon, by a consortium of researchers led by Paula J. Reimer of the CHRONO Centre for Climate, the Environment and Chronology at Queen's University of Belfast.
Sources and Further Information
Update on Radiocarbon Calibration, my article at About.com on the latest findings
Reimer, P., et al. 2009 IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0-50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 51(4):1111-1150.
Comments
Kris, How far back can we really go? Like where do you think we started? Did we crawl out of the sea? I thought of this today while watching the astronauts eating while in space. They were grabbing their food out of the äir” with there mouths and reminded me of fish eating their food in water. LOL. I know it is a crazy question, but I wonder what our first ancestor was.
Well, I’m not sure what you mean. If you mean the first physically modern Homo sapiens, ca 130,000 years ago. If you mean our first hominid ancestor, probably 6 million years ago.
Carbon 14 can only measure the last 50,000 years; luckily there are other methods that can take up the slack.
http://archaeology.about.com/cs/datingtechniques/a/timing.htm
Hi Kris, from what I´ve heard many scientists claim that Homo Sapiens is at least 200´years old. What is your comment on that?
Magnus
Kris, Thank you for your answer. I guess I did mean our first hominid ancestor, and as you said probably 6 million years ago. So do we have any idea what type of animal or bacteria that was?
No, that is our hominid ancestor, about 6 million years ago, and as far as I know, he hasn’t been discovered yet. See the piece on Ardipithecus,
http://archaeology.about.com/od/hominidancestors/ss/ardipithecus.htm
about 4.4 million years ago, for some more info.
Kris
According to the Bible we were created by an awesome, powerful and loving God who also created this world that fascinates us so much!! This is good news! We have an eternal purpose and did not just “evolve” from whatever source is currently in vogue! Amazing and complex things do not just created themselves!!