Posted on 03/24/2010 5:54:06 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
In conventional dating methods, scientists remove a small sample from an object, such as a cloth or bone fragment. Then they treat the sample with a strong acid and a strong base and finally burn the sample in a small glass chamber to produce carbon dioxide gas to analyze its C-14 content.
Rowe's new method, called "non-destructive carbon dating," eliminates sampling, the destructive acid-base washes, and burning. In the new method, scientists place an entire artifact in a special chamber with a plasma, an electrically charged gas similar to gases used in big-screen plasma television displays. The gas slowly and gently oxidizes the surface of the object to produce carbon dioxide for C-14 analysis without damaging the surface, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
New Method Could Revolutionize Dating of Turin Shroud"In the case of the shroud of Turin, we would roll the cloth into as tight a package as we can make it," Rowe said.
by Rossella Lorenzi
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Turin shroud already underwent carbon-14 dating in 1988. At that time, three reputable laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Tucson, Ariz., concluded that the cloth on which the smudged outline of the body of a man is indelibly impressed was a medieval fake dating from 1260 to 1390, and not the burial cloth wrapped around the body of Christ.
However, the radiocarbon dating did not prevent many scholars from formulating various hypotheses over the validity of the carbon-14 tests, including the possibility that they were conducted on a sample taken from a medieval patch.
Rowe's method could finally put aside such speculation since it could place the date for the entire shroud.
|
|
|||
Gods |
To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
||
|
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
In before the predictable posting of a Helen Thomas pic.
“Dating of Ancient Treasures”
I immediately thought of Clinton saying “that’s a good-looking mummy”. I freep too much.
I date an ancient treasure every saturday night!
Nobody bring up the dinosaurs dep’t — I know it’ll come up, so:
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/dating/radio_carbon.html
[snp] Radioactive carbon, produced when nitrogen 14 is bombarded by cosmic rays in the atmosphere, drifts down to earth and is absorbed from the air by plants. Animals eat the plants and take C14 into their bodies. Humans in turn take carbon 14 into their bodies by eating both plants and animals. When a living organism dies, it stops absorbing C14 and the C14 that is already in the object begins to disintegrate. Scientists can use this fact to measure how much C14 has disintegrated and how much is left in the object. Carbon 14 decays at a slow but steady rate and reverts to nitrogen 14. The rate at which Carbon decays (Half-life) is known: C14 has a half-life of 5730 years. Basically this means that half of the original amount of C14 in organic matter will have disintegrated 5730 years after the organisms death; half of the remaining C14 will have disintegrated after another 5730 years and so forth. After about 50,000 years, the amount of C14 remaining will be so small that the fossil can’t be dated reliably. [nsnp]
http://www.c14dating.com/int.html
first Americans (sidebar link):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/radiocarbon.html
Well played. ;’)
I’d hit it.
LOL
Is that a brag or a cry out for help?
Only if my “treasure” doesn’t read this.....
LOL!
The bulk of the sample would have to be intrusions to have much impact. :’)
The article states 'Ancient Treasures' not 'Ancient Relics'!
I thought that we couldn’t carbon date bone fossils because fossilization replaces the organic material with dissolved minerals. I was also under the impression that the R/C dating of the Shroud of Turin was of questionable value due to a fire that occured in the cathedral around the time that the tests indicated as the age of the Shroud.
As post #6 says, carbon 14 dating is only possible to about 50,000 years ago. Typical fossils run to millions, or hundreds of millions of years old. Even fossils younger than 50,000 years, if they have no actual bone left, must be dated by methods other than carbon 14.
This article lists at least 18 other radio-metric methods, besides carbon 14, for dating more ancient materials.
An example is Uranium-Lead dating.
There have been claims that the repair portions sewn or woven (I dunno which) into the cloth after some fire damage centuries ago were the only bits used for the carbon dating. They weren’t. However, see the wiki-wacky-pedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shroud_of_Turin#Radiocarbon_dating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_14_dating_of_the_Shroud_of_Turin
the RC dating paper’s abstract:
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v337/n6208/abs/337611a0.html
If the carbonized portions of the cloth (iow, right at the point where the newer and older were joined) had been used, it *could* result in skewed results — but if so, the skew would be toward an *older* than actual date, rather than the reverse (iow, it would appear older, not younger than actual).
The samples were taken instead from the corners, which are image-free and basically just plain cloth, which minimizes damage and takes material from a part where no one is going to look anyway. :’)
One man’s trash...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
