Archaeological 'Time Machine' Greatly Improves Accuracy of Early Radiocarbon Dating
ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2010) — Researchers at Queen's University have helped produce a new archaeological tool which could answer key questions in human evolution.
Professor Gerry McCormac and Dr Paula Reimer pictured in the 14 Chrono Centre at Queen's University Belfast. Staff at the Centre have been involved in the creation of a new calibration curve, which extends back 50,000 years. (Credit: Queen's University Belfast)
It could help research issues including the effect of climate change on human adaption and migrations.
The curve called INTCAL09, has just been published in the journalRadiocarbon. It not only extends radiocarbon calibration but also considerably improves earlier parts of the curve.
Dr Ron Reimer of the Queen's School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology said: "The new radiocarbon calibration curve will be used worldwide by archaeologists and earth scientists to convert radiocarbon ages into a meaningful time scale comparable to historical dates or other estimates of calendar age.
"It is significant because this agreed calibration curve now extends over the entire normal range of radiocarbon dating, up to 50,000 years before today. Comparisons of the new curve to ice-core or other climate archives will provide information about changes in solar activity and ocean circulation."
It has taken nearly 30 years for researchers to produce a calibration curve this far back in time.
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Mais informações sobre o Chrono Centre pode ser encontrado online: http://chrono.qub.ac.uk/
